


This Is Our Anthem

by clod5xg



Category: Anthem (Video Game), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-01-25 08:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21352888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clod5xg/pseuds/clod5xg
Summary: An Anthem/Steven Universe alternate universe, following a Diamond Authority Peridot soldier of Homeworld through adventure, loss, discovery, and romance. Written in the third-person perspective of Peridot.
Relationships: Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

** _Error: System Malfunction. Running diagnostics sweep.._** **_._ **

** _Initiating recovery protocol._ **

** _. . ._ **

** _Javelin [ Interceptor Class 5XG Model ] exo-suit integrity: operation at 39% efficiency._ **

** _After-burners [ Malfunction ] : operation at 31% efficiency._ **

_I can't feel my legs._

** _Exosuit digitigrade leg operation: [ Inoperable ] Components required are missing._ **

_Why did this happen? _

** _Occupant vital signs: [ Weak ] Requires attention._ **

_How did the rebel insurgents even spot me?_

** _System administering immediate cauterization: Left Patella and Right Patella_ **

_I failed._

** _Sending out a distress call..._ **

_I made a mistake._

** _Flare deployed._ **

_It's too hard to stay awake._

_ **Distress call transmitted. ** _

_ **. . .** _

_ **Estimated time of arrival of [ REDACTED ]: 18 minutes.** _

* * *

_Three hours before the crash_

_"_Attention Loading Bay ECHO-473: Departure will occur in [ 12 ] minutes. Please have all of your registered Javelins inspected and fueled before the mission arrival. The Diamond Authority wishes you a safe journey to be met with success."

An automated voice rang out overhead, the sound crackling to life over the loudspeakers scattered throughout the loading bay. _Because failure is unacceptable. _

The prerecorded message of a cheerful woman's voice was dully regarded by a female sitting by a sleek looking, but regardless large suit of armor. Her sharp, calculating green gaze placed behind a pair of vision correcting visors were focused on a small digital pad in her hands, seemingly running over last-minute system checks. It wasn't required, seeing how she had everything prepared for this mission hours ago, but it was something to keep her distracted mind busy and kept her worry from spiraling out of control. Her small lips were tightly pursed in a kempt frown, a disdainful expression creasing her face. She had slicked back blonde hair, kept generally neat by all of the hair gel she applied to stay on top of the general soldier's code. That's right, she was a soldier now. She had to say goodbye to being an Arcanist months ago since she proved to be more useful with boots on the ground than couped up safely in the Yellow Diamond substation. She did not prefer this life, as it yielded too many hazards for her to count on four hands, but it was demanded of her by the powers above. A labored, nervous breath escaped the blonde as she smoothed a hand over the skin-tight green and black carbon suit she wore, which boasted a large yellow diamond on the chest, the back, and on both knees. This would make the sixty-sixth mission that she would be deployed on, and would indubitably be marked as the sixty-sixth success. The datapad clattered against the marble table as the woman moved to her feet at an instant, standing at a full height of an underwhelming five feet flat. Her face was set to a determined, yet unreadable expression as the appearance of a new woman made herself known, approaching the soldier with a clack of high heels and a scowl. 

"Peridot 2F5L. I hope that your suit is fueled, double checked, triple checked, and ready for deployment." Came a sharp, biting tone. It was produced by a tall woman with broad shoulders and a very authoritative air about her. She seemed to sneer at all times as if it were her default expression. She had both arms tucked dutifully behind her back as she glared down at the soldier, Peridot, who stood stiffly at attention with a salute.

"Of course, Iris Yellow Agate. All of my Javelin's systems are green across the board, and it is prepared for deployment." Peridot's stiff response was received by the disinterested and scornful higher-ranked soldier before her.

"Good. Then suit up immediately and meet Jasper in the launch bay. It's rude to keep the commander waiting on you, 2F5L." The lower-ranked soldier did not even have time to respond before the echoing clacks of high heels resumed, the officer already swiftly moving away. Peridot did not question this as she turned swiftly to her javelin. Muscle memory took over as the arcanist-turned-soldier moved to the rear of the inactive Javelin positioned before her, and clambered into the tight quarters. It was like a glove, but for your full body. The padding was cool to the touch and fit her perfectly, adjusting after a moment to tighten appropriately. Her visor automatically connected to the system of her Javelin and the system diagnostics popped up all across her vision, alerting her of the system boot. The suit straightened up and Peridot felt positioned in her exo-suit, able to register where her feet and arms are placed which translated through the suit. The digitigrade modeled legs stepped forward with her body, and she now stood near seven feet tall in her armored suit. She began to walk towards the area of the designated Launch Bay, an irritated look threatening to touch her face as she passed by other soldiers who stared at her. She knew that she was regarded as a very efficient and successful soldier, but this did not keep the others from talking about her. Whispering. They knew that she had been an arcanist, and although she hadn't wanted to be a soldier, she was one now whether she liked it or not. She worked her way through the ranks very quickly due to her ability to pilot a Javelin and was the first Peridot to receive a custom suit after serving for such a short time. They had all began with the Ranger variant, but she proved to be a formidable pilot and technician and was worthy of choosing her suit. She had chosen the Interceptor variant and wore it well, like a second skin. It had come naturally to her.

Once she was standing in front of the reflective metal doors of the Launch Bay, she paused for just a brief moment as she drank in the sight of her reflection. Standing before she was a soldier, wearing an ornate, sleek exo-suit of durable armor. The chest was ridged and each ridge was lined with brass, all leading into the yellow diamond that was boasted against the center of her chest. The sharp shoulders were set back in a confident stance and led into armored green forearms, round and ending in stubs. From the ends of said stubs were floating five disembodied digits, flexible with a reflective surface against each. Down her lower torso and her thighs, the armor plating was replaced with fine leather, allowing for superior flexibility and excellent maneuverability on the field. The leather-bound thighs tapered into digitigrade styled legs that ended with sharp feet, lacquered black at the tips that were faded with wear. Against her back, forearms, and legs were afterburners and thrusters placed strategically in a sloped manner, which were used to increase her speed and ability to dodge on the field. The lightweight build (compared to the other three models of Javelins) also slowed the overheating while in flight, giving her the upper hand when it comes to agility. She stared herself in the eyes of her reflection before her detached fingers rose to engage the face of her Javelin. The face cover slid down to cover her face, locking in place and causing the dark eyes to burst to light. They possessed an intimidating yellow glow and she tucked her lip, albeit unable to see it, and waved a hand against the panel next to the doors. They slid open to reveal the launch bay, where an immortal giant stood. Peridot steeled herself, before stepping inside, listening to the massive doors hiss shut behind her.

"About time, runt." Came a gruff, taunting voice. A Colossus -- both the suit model and woman who donned it -- stood before her in an intimidating fashion. Her faceplate was currently retracted, allowing her dark-toned, scarred face to be revealed. She possessed striking yellow eyes, a pair that would never back down from a challenge and dared to trump all. She was a hulk of a woman, who already stood at 6'5" without the suit. With the suit on and with it being the largest model there was, the commander easily cleared 12 feet. She wore a cocky smirk, one that told anyone who encountered her that they may not leave alive. She had a dangerous glint in her eye, one that could easily scare off even another Colossus. Peridot approached her and she straightened her back, feeling the watchful gaze of the commander land against her. 

"Of course, Commander." _It's 2F5L. Not 'runt'. _Although that was how Peridot wanted to respond, she decided against it, with her better judgment in mind. "I apologize that my timing was not more punctual than being 6 minutes early. I was running through last-minute diagnostics. I have taken all appropriate steps to assure that this collection mission will run exactly as planned." Peridot informed the high ranking officer simply, militarist and calculating in her tone.

"Whatever runt." _Clod._ "I don't need a review of the mission, I just need to make sure my suit is running the way I want it to, and I don't worry about the mission failing. I _know _it won't fail because _I_ don't fail." Jasper said in a dark tone, the heavy stomp of her full steel feet booming against the concrete floor as she took a step forward to back her words with confidence. Peridot stepped back as her first response, fear striking up her spine which caused her to cower, if even for just a moment. The installation of fear that Jasper held not only over Peridot but everyone underneath her caused a vicious grin to touch her lips. "Don't be so scared. You cannot back down from anything on the battlefield, not even me. I don't care if you barely engage in combat, you need to be prepared for anything. I don't know how many times I have to tell you this as your escort before you get it." She sneered at the shorter armored woman, before taking a step back and turning around to look at the hangar doors. Peridot tucked her lip back in a snarl beneath her helmet and glowered as she looked at Jasper. The commander was a real thorn in her side, and her cockiness was ill-received by Peridot. It was however praised by the Diamonds for some terrible reason that the technician's logic inclined mind was unable to properly grasp. This minor annoyance was soon forgotten however as the Launch Bay doors opened before them, the hangar doors peeling apart to reveal the outside world to them.

Long, cascading waterfalls that roared down into distant canyons were accompanied by the ambiance of distant animals and apex predators. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange, with deep shades of blue and purple bleeding in from the East to signify that night was approaching. Streaks of yellow were painted across the sky, clear as the water that ran through the canyons in the surrounding area from the height that they were elevated at. The entire Yellow Diamond-sanctioned outpost was elevated above most other terrains, to re-enforce the fact that the Diamond Authority stood above all. It was placed into a sheer cliff face and was only accessible by ship, Strider or Javelin. And even then, access was heavily restricted and only allowed soldiers with missions in nearby areas to dock here. Peridot sucked in a breath at the view before them, forgetting all about her previous grudge against Jasper for now. Now was the time for her favorite part of the mission.

* * *

Peridot and Jasper had been flying for a while now, and the sky has long since been enveloped in utter darkness. Only one moon shone onto the landscape below, bathing everything the rays could touch in the moonlight. Shadows were cast against the ground from the many cliff sides and trees that dotted the land, giving the duo the cover of night that they needed to complete their objective. A reconnaissance mission for the first part, and information extraction for the second. There were usually two moons that hung in the sky above, but it appeared that the first moon was new, and the second had only a mere sliver of it available to cast light in the night sky. Having as little light as possible made spying out a Freelancer's rebel base even easier than anticipated, but this kind of careful work required stealth and covering a lot of ground on foot. That part came next. After flying to just under two miles from their destination, Peridot and Jasper made their descent into one of the ravines below and crashed directly into a deep body of water, in an attempt to cool off their Javelins without landing against the ground and making more noise. Peridot went spiraling gracefully into the deep blue below and the warnings popping up on her visor were immediately dismissed. Her afterburners were no longer overheating and automatically made the switch to their aquatic movement propellor system. While she had landed gracefully, the behemoth of a woman had plummetted into the water probably as loud as humanly possible and would have created quite the water show and scene had they landed any closer. The lower-ranked soldier engaged the underwater propulsion capabilities on the Javelin and emerged from the water quietly, pulling herself onto the land with her hands once she disabled the afterburners. She did so quickly and quietly, as is the MO of her model, but Jasper didn't see the need to follow suit. She was plenty loud and slow about it, which was to be expected from her Colossus counterpart. Peridot simply sighed to herself and she checked her nav-map, taking note of their location and turning in the appropriate direction. She initiated their long trek there, unaware of but hopeful that it would be rather uneventful. The duo moved in silence, aside from the hiss of hydraulics and the crunch of dirt and other things of that nature beneath huge mechanical boots, much to Peridot's relief. It allowed for the walk to be generally peaceful and to be made at a quick rate, and the silence couldn't be missed more by the time they arrived at their destination.

"Log 2072. We're here." Came the blonde's whispered voice. "It has been two hours, forty-nine minutes and thirteen seconds since our departure from Yellow Diamond outpost Echo-473. We have reached the reported rebel base in Sector 83-dash-2S4. The insurgents from this view appear to have standard Ranger Javelins, but my closer inspection scouting report will surely divulge more information. My escort, commander Jasper 8L2T in her Colossus Model 2AR will remain behind on overwatch until I return from my objective." Peridot took logs of her objectives and her observations, as well as documented videos and pictures when it came to her missions. The blonde had also found comfort in these recordings, as the documentation set her mind at ease and allowed her to vocally express her thoughts and emotions to herself. She looked back to the Javelin in question, and Jasper gave a nod to her recording.

"Yeah yeah, I know the drill, runt. Let's just get this over with." She replied in a gruff, annoyed tone, the metallic cling and system static accompanying her voice with the solid steel face cover engaged. The Colossus took a few steps back and checked through her ammo reserves idly as Peridot began to make her way down. Her dexterous Interceptor allowed for the easiest movement down the cliffside, and she was able to avoid causing any mudslides or falling of rocks by the way that she scaled down carefully. She had excellent control over her Javelin and was an extremely skilled pilot. Her stealth was unrivaled when it came to her job, and she always accomplished it extraordinarily well. This would explain her ability to climb through the ranks so quickly, that even Jasper was impressed with what she could do. Not that the brute would ever admit it.

The black lacquered feet of the Interceptor touched down onto a jutting rock in the cliff face, not even 400 feet away from the base located beneath a sheer overhang. From this vantage point, Peridot could see a considerable number of Javelins, way more than she had been expecting. It made her heart drop in her chest, and she suddenly clenched her teeth. She had to remain silent, in and out, like a shadow. The technician recorded the view, marking at least 40 Freelancers wandering about, some in Javelins, others not. Their Launch Bay was wide open, and on a platform near the far left, there was a Javelin that caused her heart to stop. Peridot launched her hand up and increased the magnification of her helmet, trying to get a clearer view of the suit of armor that she saw. "_Oh, my stars._" She gasped out, hand trembling nervously. There stood a massive suit of Legion Colossus armor, plated gold and pink. _Pink_. That had to be the rebellion leader herself. It _had _to be. But how were they so close? "That is the armor of the infamous rebellion leader, Rose Quartz. I can't believe it. There are an estimated 40 Freelancer Rebels here at this base, this must be a headquarters, I need to fall back." She anxiously breathed out, sucking in a breath as she deactivated the magnification. She turned around to clamber back up the cliffside, wanting to exit as fast as possible but was suddenly stopped by a sniper shot. Directly through her armor.

The Yellow Diamond Interceptor shouted out as the bullet hit true, tearing through layers of padding and leather, and grazed past her skin. Her left arm was suddenly rendered frozen, and she seized up as fear clutched her heart with cold claws. She spared a glance backward and spotted another Inceptor Javelin standing in the hanger, a heavy-duty sniper rifle in hand, donning pearlescent white armor with brass and blue highlights. Fear induced a heavy wave of nausea and Peridot no longer saw it fit to stay quiet. The afterburners and thrusters all over her Javelin roared to life as they all engaged at once, at full speed, and Peridot executed a triple jump perfectly. She avoided two more sniper rounds and she screeched into the comms. "JASPER! FALL BACK! THERE ARE TOO MANY, WE NEED TO _MOVE_!" Her tone left no room for argument. She heard Jasper growl into the comms before a chaingun was suddenly ignited from above, a hailstorm of bullets volleying the top of the cliff that Jasper could see. Peridot narrowly evaded another sniper shot by dodging to the side and swooping up the cliff to her left. Her suit suddenly warned that she was about to overheat from the sudden ignition earlier, but she was so close, just a little bit higher-- then disaster struck. Well, lightning would be more accurate. Her entire suit overheated and Peridot was so close to grabbing the cliff, but her hand missed its mark. Her vision was assaulted with several messages and warnings popping up, and she began to plummet down into the valley very far below. She began to freefall and she turned around so that she was in a nosedive downwards, in an attempt to cool her Javelin down and wait for it to begin to respond again. Where had that lightning come from in the first place? The sky was clear, and-- _no_. She desperately looked up and spotted her assailant. Floating outside of the Launch Bay, out of view from Jasper from the covering cliff above, was a floating Javelin, electricity dancing and spiking up their right arm. It was a storm. An extremely rare, powerful Javelin, how did the rebels manage to get their hands on one!? Unless-

"Jasper! My suit is DOWN! You need to get out of here, I forwarded my logs to you, you _need _to get those back to the Diamond Authority! GO! I'll keep their--" Static suddenly roared in Peridot's ears and she flinched, a bullet passing through the side of her helmet as such an angle that it hit her jump pack as well. Her suit responded to this and her warning screens flared to life, and the Interceptor jammed her hand directly into the cliff-face to slow her fall. Doing this only managed to throw her off balance and she smacked a branch on her fast descent, and could not anticipate the next sniper round, which got her directly in the leg. It went straight through her kneecap, causing a scream of pain to escape the disabled Javelin that continued to plummet down. Everything had happened so fast, everything was going downhill, her thrusters, she was able to activate them, she needed to escape, she--

Her leg boosters roared to life once again, jerking her injured leg forward which caused pain to shoot through her thigh, her torso, up to her mouth and she wanted to vomit. The pain was sickening, her mind was racing, she wasn't flying upwards, and- Her jump pack malfunctioned from the previously set bullet. It made a high-pitched squeal as she tried to engage it, and Peridot struggled to throw it off of her back, but she was too slow.

Peridot was suddenly enveloped in an explosion as her after-burner thrusters had taken a direct blow from the sniper shot. The explosion was centered directly on her back, and Peridot watched hopelessly as everything faded to black.

* * *

The Interceptor pilot wasn't sure how long she was out for, but she awoke to the vague sound of running water. Her visor was cracked, her face was singed, her helmet ran diagnostics that showed she was in no position to move, and looking up at the sky revealed that she had no idea where she was. She washed up somewhere, probably far away from the mission objective, away from her course. Failure. She felt sick to her stomach at her injuries, yes, but even more so at the impending failure of her mission. She was unable to move, and her suit dispatched rescue protocols without her authorization. Now, someone with the Javelin registered as '[ REDACTED ]' was currently en route, and that thought scared Peridot. She was sure that it had to be a rebel. Unfortunately, she couldn't remain conscious for long and watched, powerless, the world around her faded back into nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The artwork to go along with it was drawn by me, based off of the Interceptor Legion of Dawn armor from Anthem. I intended for it to be the cover of this fanfiction but whoop


	2. Chapter 2

_"Peridot designation 2F5L, step forward." Came a stern, sharp female voice, her authoritative tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. As was requested of her, the nervous arcanist immediately took a step forward, nearly tripping over herself in her haste. Peridot stood in a large, empty room, devoid of any material belongings and any emotion. The room was bitingly cold, but it was an embrace that she knew all too well by this point in her life. The floor was comprised of a dark, perfectly polished marble, a smoky color that clouded the lights from the ceiling that hung high above. There were four thrones in this room, comprised of cold steel and perpetually unbreakable smoky glass. Only two of the four thrones were currently occupied, a luminescent blue and a harsh yellow hue bleeding out from two of the thrones-- the one on the left and the one on the right. There was a mysterious aura about the room, the air heavy with tension and the steady inhalations she took only seemed to chill her to the core. Even hidden behind glass, their radiance could not be mistaken, their eyes set on her, she would shake in her boots had she not steeled herself beforehand. _

_ "2F5L, do you remember what happened three days ago at Pink Firebase Zulu?" Asked a softer voice from the first, but in the same questioning tone. The simple question caused the hair on the back of Peridot's neck to stand, and she felt her knuckles hanging at her sides flush white from the force in which she was gripping her garb. Clutching the cloth so close brought her no comfort in this room. It never did. The events from only 70 hours ago were still fresh on her mind, and recalling them had caused her to seize up in fear. She had broken a very strict law within the Diamond Authority. She had known this moment was coming, she was going to be tortured, excommunicated, left for dead--_

_ "Of course she does, Blue. 2F5L, explain to us the events that had taken place that day and do not **dare **to exclude any details." The sharper voice cut in like a knife, shaking the arcanist violently out of her thoughts. Her teeth clenched as she recalled the memories, and knew that she had to include everything. Even the part about her breaking the Diamond Authority Arcanist code._

_ "I will, my luminescent Diamonds. Exactly three days ago, in Pink Firebase Zulu, there was a small team sent out to establish a communications array just outside of the Firebase. This team consisted of three Ranger variant Javelins, one colossus Javelin, and two arcanists who remained in the base, one of which was myself. The other Peridot with me designated 2F7K, was overseeing the shaper activity and restoration of the communications array 5 miles out. I was scouring through the Logs that had been recorded into the system to guide the Quartz fireteam through their objective to successfully restore the communication beacon when one of our Tiger Eye Ranger Javelins designation 3Y9A, went dark. There had been no radio chatter and no conflict, so 2F7K and I were confused. Next followed 7B1J, and after her 6T6Z. All that was left that we could communicate with was the Colossus Javelin, Jasper 8L2T. After 10 minutes of radio silence, 8L2T responded, followed by the sound of heavy gunfire. A very large group of scavenging Scars had shown up on the sight with heavy arms, and 8L2T assured us that she was able to handle the situation. 2F7K and I discussed our next course of action when there were suddenly two Sentinel Class Javelins, both Agates, that made their way into the arcanists chambers and told us to evacuate immediately. 8L2T was so distracted with the group of them, that she was unable to fall back to where the rest of their army was hitting the base. It was a diversion. _

_ Despite my requests for her to fall back, 8L2T took matters into her own hands and ignored my advice. Soon enough, Scar soldiers were running through the halls and plaguing Pink Firebase with their presence, and one of the Agates fell to their mechs. 2F7K attempted to send out another message to 8L2T to inform her of the situation, but she didn't listen. Our only other Agate was beginning to become overwhelmed and had sustained considerable damage. The Scars had us pinned. 2F7K was mortally wounded and I fell back into the Launch Bay with her after the Agate fell. I barricaded the doors, the Scars were swarming to it and attempting to break it down, 2F7K was bleeding out in my arms, all of our forces had been more or less defeated.." She suddenly trailed off. She could remember it crystal clear-- A Peridot from her row in the cloning bay, looking pale, weak. She was barely breathing, bleeding out on the floor in front of her. Peridot 2F5L knew that she needed to keep this base from being overrun, she needed to do something.. And out of the corner of her eye, in her panicked stupor, she spotted it. A Colossus Javelin hooked up to a series of wires in the far corner. It was against all Diamond Authority regulations, an arcanist was not allowed to pilot a Javelin unless instructed otherwise-- but this was a dire situation. _

_ "2F5L, explain what you did in that situation." Came a harsh tone, demanding answers. Peridot blinked out of her thoughts and she looked up to the position of Yellow Diamond's throne. Her stomach was in knots, her breath was hitched, the Diamonds seemed furious, she knew this would evoke punishment. All she could picture was the lifeless face of the Peridot she failed to save, who died in her arms shortly after--_

_ "I piloted a Javelin."_

* * *

Peridot awoke in a cold sweat. She jolted upright and was gasping for air like there was a heavyweight against her chest that she couldn't relieve. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the surrounding area, she suddenly realized that she was no longer outside. Instead, she was currently sitting up in a bed and deemed it to be a hospital from the equipment scattered about. The lights were off in this room, probably to keep her from waking. Wait, why was she here? She looked down at herself and she spotted several IVs in both arms and a multitude of equipment that she was hooked up to. _Ah.__ My Javelin._ The next thing that caught her attention caused her heart to drop into her stomach. Looking down to where her legs should be, spotted wrapped, bloody stumps. Her breathing immediately began to pick up, her heart was racing, and she stared down in horror at what greeted her sight. Her legs, from the knees down, were completely missing. The machine next to her began to beep rapidly, and the panicked blonde's eyes shot to the room about her. This medical bay was unlike any she had ever seen. This was not in the Diamond Authority, she had been stripped out of her Javelin, she was going to be stripped of her title, she was--

"Hold on, hold on!" A voice suddenly called out, and there were two pairs of hands placed against Peridot's shoulders as she was forced to lie back in bed. She began to thrash violently, like a cornered animal, but her fighting did not amount to much. She tried to force her arms upwards and a yell ripped out from her throat, in an attempt to free herself from the unfamiliar people. She tried to bend her legs, to get leverage, but that naturally did not work as she was expecting. She combatively threw her back up to escape the pinning hands of two soldiers that she did not recognize. They wore strange outfits, nothing like those given out by the Diamond Authority.

"Garnet, sedate her. Then move her to the tank." Ordered the same voice that she had heard just a little bit ago. Peridot bristled as she heard the orders, her mind moving so fast that she didn't even register the name Garnet. There was suddenly a stab in her arm, and she fought against the needle but found herself rendered unable to move. She was effectively pinned against the hospital bed, and even after the needle left her arm, she could not thrash about. She began to lose her consciousness after just a few moments, and her struggling dwindled into eventually nothing. Her double vision wandered up lazily and she spotted the woman who spoke before leaning over her, looking down as she fell out of it. This was the doctor. She was a darker-skinned woman with wavy black hair, who wore an expression similar to that of which her superiors always wore. She was clad in a basic black outfit with a white doctor's coat placed around her shoulders. It was difficult to make out exact features in her current state, but the woman looked exhausted. Peridot couldn't distinguish any other features as darkness filled her vision and left her to drift into an unconscious state.

* * *

_ "That's right. You, 2F5L, climbed your way into a Rose Quartz abandoned Colossus Javelin and you somehow piloted it. You performed this action, knowing that Diamond Authority Law strictly forbids the use of any sort of Javelin to arcanists unless otherwise instructed by one of us." Came the sharp response, subjecting Peridot to the deep pit of dread in her stomach. She felt like shriveling up and dying on the spot. She knew that she had broken Diamond Authority Law, and even now she stands before two of the three leaders of their entire empire. She swallowed hard, unable to even see the faces of the leaders who she stood before now._

_ "Yes, my Diamond. I did heinously break Diamond Authority Law, piloted a Javelin that belonged to a long since deceased Rose Quartz soldier, and I expelled the threat of the Scar infestation from Pink Firebase Zulu." The arcanist had barely been able to force even that out. She was terrified of the consequences of doing what she had done, and she felt devoid of hope in this situation. She opened her mouth to speak, but Yellow Diamond held a hand up, only the outline of it able to be seen from behind the tinted glass shroud._

_"I've heard enough. Peridot designation 2F5L, for your breaking of Diamond Authority Law, I--"_

_ "Yellow, hold on for just one moment." Interrupted a soft voice. Peridot clenched her eyes shut where she stood, preventing herself from breaking down on the spot. She was going to be disposed of. Killed. That was the only thing on her mind, until Blue Diamond's interjection. Said authoritative figure seemed to lean forward in her seat, scrutinizing the arcanist before her, before the soft, haunting voice of the second leader rang out again. "In your piloting of a Rose Quartz Colossus, you managed to clear out an infestation of Scars from one of _her _Firebases, avenged several of your fallen soldiers and one arcanist, and managed to complete the mission by establishing a connection with the Jasper that was dispatched with you. You, an arcanist, who had never piloted a Javelin before this, was able to finish the mission that four experienced Quartz soldiers were unable to do themselves." She finished, having read the official report beforehand. She seemed to turn her attention to the adjacent throne and offered her hand up as she continued, directed at Yellow Diamond. "What a gifted Peridot. Wouldn't you agree, Yellow? You know that we cannot condone rule-breakers, however, this might be a special case." She gently argued, and this left Yellow Diamond bereft of speech as she registered this information. _

_ "Blue, you can't seriously be considering letting this Peridot continue to exist after setting such a bad example for current and future productions of Peridots as arcanists. The last thing we need is another incident, especially due to the resource war. I won't allow this." The other leader snapped back, in such a tone that would freeze any soldier and arcanist standing before her. The other leader, Blue, did not seem to back down from this. _

_ "This Peridot has shown bravery when all odds were stacked against her, and she used her resources accordingly. It may have broken our law, but we need more gems like her. You know that we need to keep tabs on all of Pink's bases," her voice threatened to break a bit, and she gripped the arms of her throne a little tighter. "It's all we have left of her, Yellow. Please, I urge you to reconsider."_

_ "We are not having this conversation, Blue. My punishment will not be superseded by your gut feeling. Peridot 2F5L was cloned in my name, it is my responsibility, and it is up to me and only me how she will be punished. A defective Peridot will not be missed." Her words stung Peridot as if a knife had plunged been into her chest. She didn't need another reminder of her defect, which was her unnaturally short height for a clone. Although her superior spoke with a stern voice and a determination that would rival that of an Ancient Ash Titan, the soft-spoken one did not back down._

_ "What she lacks in her height, she makes up for in bravery and intellect. She could inspire morale among her peers, and her skill could encourage our Quartz soldiers to work even harder. Her skills with a Javelin cannot simply be ignored, Yellow, she would make a wonderful asset to our collective forces. Having a well-versed arcanist on the field may be the best course of action to take if we want to staunch the Rebellion."_

_ Blue's request for Yellow Diamond did not fall on deaf ears. There was a heavy silence that filled the air, as Peridot stood in between the two leaders who would decide her fate. Her life was on the line, literally, and she silently blessed all of the actions that she had taken that landed her in Blue Diamond's good grace. She would never forsake the Diamond that she was made for, Yellow Diamond, but she did find herself wanting to lean towards Blue Diamond with the more her actions. were supported Peridot knew that what she had done was wrong, that her actions would have severe consequences, but desperate times had called for desperate measures. And the best part of it all? It paid off._

_ "Fine, Blue. We will play your little game. 2F5L, step forward to receive your sentence." The arcanist thanked the stars for the Diamond that was looking out for her and no longer felt like crumbling where she stood. Even still, Yellow Diamond's voice instilled a fear in her that was unparalleled and she followed the order blindly, stiffly, the way that her body was used to naturally moving when given an order. "Peridot designation 2F5L, your penalty for breaking Diamond Authority Law 312, Section 14B will be less severe." This declaration brought Peridot endless relief. This, however, was short-lived, as a fate possibly worse than death was presented to her. "Instead of prying the arcanist gem out of your forehead and flaunting your body as an example to other clones who dare defy the Diamonds, your punishment will be to hand in all research of Shaper Relics and the Anthem to the archivists, and you will take permanent leave from the Diamond Arcanist Hall. From this point on, you will be designated as a soldier, not an arcanist, and you will be serving out the rest of your time on the field in a Javelin." Throughout hearing out her punishment, the arcanist had no longer felt relief. Instead, she felt sick to her stomach, nauseated beyond belief and lightheaded from the orders she just received. Peridot had made great strides in her research of Shaper Relics and the Anthem alike, and she was essentially excommunicated from the organization that she was created for. She was cloned as an arcanist, to conduct research and to further document Shaper Relics. And now, like few Peridots before her, she was being forced to fill the role of a Quartz._

_ "Gather your belongings, 2F5L. You will depart for Yellow Locker Prime at 5 AM sharp. Do not be late. When you arrive, there will be an Iris Yellow Agate, designation 7R1V waiting to receive you and get you prepared." Yellow Diamond finished, and by the end of it, both Peridot and Blue Diamond alike gave the strong leader questioning gazes, albeit Blue's was far less anxiety-ridden. _

_ "The Locker? Are you sure?" Blue seemed to ask for confirmation, but Peridot didn't hear it. She was lost in her thoughts. The only life she knew, all of her abilities and all of her research, all forfeit now as punishment. Was it better than execution? She wasn't so sure anymore. She registered the leaders talking quietly from above with one another but did not recognize the words. She was too lost in her thoughts, deprived of the only thing she knew how to do best. It wasn't until Yellow Diamond had cleared her throat and demanded the arcanist's attention did she look up and check back in._

_ "2F5L, dismissed." The austere general ordered in a disinterested tone, accompanied by a wave of her hand. Peridot's body reacted before she could, and brought both arms up into an angular manner to perform a diamond salute. She turned on her heel and swiftly exited the vaulted chamber, ruminating on the nature of her situation._

* * *

_ Where am I? It's warm. _Peridot's green eyes drowsily slid open and quickly flinched shut not even a moment later, feeling liquid all over her face. _Am I floating? Water? _She was very confused as to what was happening. She could breathe, there was a mask over her mouth and nose, providing her with oxygen. She was surrounded by warmth, enveloping her whole form in the pleasant heat. She opened her eyes again, and after flinching once more at the contact, she was able to keep her eyelids at a squint this time. It was blurry due to the nature of the water surrounding her, but she could make out the face of the doctor behind the glass separating them. The said doctor seemed to acknowledge her awakening and she called someone over. A tall, dark-skinned woman. A very familiar face, a clone? More specifically, a Garnet. However, something seemed off about her. Peridot was certain that she was not in the presence of Homeworld soldiers, so she did not understand how there could be a clone standing before her. The water in the tank began to drain and the Diamond Authority Peridot realized she was suspended in the tank, held by a harness strapped around her chest and arms. With the liquid draining, Peridot was quick to understand that this was not water. It was thick and slimy and took minutes to completely drain. As a scientist, she recognized this peculiar substance as bacta-oxymine, a mixture of kavam and alazhi bacteria combined with ambori fluid. This was a _very_ expensive medical substance, so it was very unexpected that she was just sitting in a tall vat of it. It was always used exclusively for soldiers in critical condition, and she wasn't dying, so why had she received that treatment? While lost in her thoughts, she had been released from the tank via the top and was being lifted out by the Garnet. She felt weak in the large woman's arms and didn't fight against being pulled up by her underarms, much like a child. She was lifted up and out of the large vat, lifting a hand weakly to pull the fastened mask around her face free. She let it drop into the vat as she was placed against a seat by the tank, and she leaned against it tiredly.

"Thank you, Garnet. That will be all." Came the distracted tone of the doctor as she paced over, clipboard in her hand as she idly flipped through the diagnoses. The tall woman in question stepped aside and gave a small nod, turning on her heel and evacuating the room quietly. "Now. Peridot, is it? You've been under my extensive care for 2 days and 13 hours." _What? I haven't been out for that long.. have I? _"You were in a comatose state for the first day and a half, and only recently have shown signs of consciousness again. Of course, the first real sign was you waking up and fighting to rip out the IVs I had meticulously placed in your arms to keep you hydrated and medicated. You suffered severe injuries after your Javelin crashed, and were brought to the medical bay by miss Lazuli. You are very lucky that she was in the area when your suit deployed a flare and a distress call. As for your injuries, Peridot, both of your legs from the knees down required amputation. You had received a concussion in the accident, as well as a broken arm, and third-degree burns all over your body." _Ah. That explains the compound of bacta-oxymine. _The arcanist-turned-soldier mulled over this information a few times, racking her brain in an attempt to remember what had happened in the crash, but couldn't seem to wrap her head around it. Looking down at the stumps where her legs once were made her sick to her stomach. Without legs, how was she supposed to pilot her Inceptor, which was built for speed and that exclusively? _Oh no. _

"What of my Interceptor? My Javelin? What is its current state?" She demanded out quickly, voice hoarse and rough, still retaining it's nasally quality. She attempted to stand while she got aggressive, but ended up falling forward as she lacked legs. She did not fall and instead was caught by someone that she didn't see in the room before. She shot her head back to glare at the offender, but just found herself shocked. It was a Lapis Lazuli, a perfect clone. Her cold, belligerent gaze at the puny Peridot in her hands made the soldier's heart drop in her chest with fear. "A Lapis Lazuli?"

"Your Interceptor is in shambles. Its location is not important. I am only here to make sure you are in the condition for interrogation. From your anticipation, I'd say that you're ready for it. She's all yours, miss Lazuli." She dismissed, turning around as she moved into the lab area of the room. The small pilot struggled as the defected Homeworld soldier picked her up effortlessly and carried her out.

* * *

There was a bright lamp shined directly into the eyes of the Peridot, causing her to squint her eyes and her nose to scrunch up in annoyance at the pesky action. This was the rebel insurgent's idea of interrogation?

"Where were you the night of the _murder_?" Came a high pitched voice that was purposely gravely and dark, in an attempt to sound like a private eye in a 30s detective movie.

"_Excuse me_?" The nasally, irritating voice of Peridot came out in a questioning tone, and she reached a hand forward to shove away the light that was in her eyes. Once it was out of the way, her expression dropped to an appalled one as she stared at the person who was trying to do an intimidating voice. 

Before the Javelin pilot sat a young boy, no older than 14, with plump features. He wore a broad smile and was leaning over the table, showing his ruffled black hair and light spray of freckles over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. _What is this? What are they trying to pull? _Her eyes darted up and she saw the Garnet from earlier, her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the back wall. She wore a visor over her eyes which caught at such an angle that refracted the light and hid her eyes away. Peridot's gaze shifted left, and a hand was aggressively slammed against the table, giving her a start. The hand belonged to the Lapis Lazuli that carried her in here-- one of the real threats, coupled with the powerful Garnet.

"Shut up. You're going to answer our questions, and you're not going to change the subject. You will answer me truthfully, or I will hurt you like you won't believe." She breathed out aggressively. Getting a good look at her, Peridot felt her mouth dry up, wracking her brain for possible answers. There's no way that this clone was the one that she was responsible for interrogating all of those years ago, right? Who she let Jasper just beat away at as she studied Shaper Relics? She swallowed hard, breaking eye contact. The hard glare she received from the rebel forced her to look away. "Peridot. How much do you know? Why were you, _an arcanist_, on the field, piloting an Interceptor Javelin nonetheless?" She growled out, her intense eyes never once leaving the small paraplegic's face.

"I know where your base is. I reported the exact coordinates to another soldier." She said coldly, and she suddenly felt a little more confident. That's right, her mission was a success, even if she was deemed MIA by the Diamond Authority. They knew where the rebel base was, but more importantly, they knew where the rebel leader was, all thanks to Peridot's efforts. She was sure Jasper had escaped. A confident, sordid smirk was on her lips now and she leaned forward, now staring at the Lapis Lazuli as she continued. She grew confident with the knowledge that the Diamond Authority would send an army at any moment. "In fact, I would be surprised if my Diamond, _Yellow Diamond_, hasn't already dispatched an army to wipe this miserable place off of the face of this planet, including all of you _disgusting cloddy insurgents _and your pathetic rebel leader _Rose Quartz_." She drew her lip back as she chuckled, hands planted firmly on the table as she laughed in Lazuli's face. This, however, was cut short when a fist smashed into the bridge of her nose, causing her to cry out in pain. She reeled back in pain but was tugged forward suddenly by the front of her white prisoner shirt. When her face moved forward, Lazuli's fist made contact with it again, this time right on the mouth. She vaguely heard shouting as her vision blurred, the pain of both punches causing double vision and black to creep up in her peripheral vision. She was released and collapsed back into the chair, both hands darting up to cradle her face delicately. 

"Lapis! Control yourself! We do not resort to violence like that." Garnet shouted at the ex-Homeworld soldier, pulling her back by her shoulder. The young boy that was at the table was now at the side of the Peridot, his hand against her shoulder as she rocked back into her seat. "Steven, get away from her."

"Hey, Peridot, right? Oh geez, are you okay? She hit you kinda hard, uh, twice." He asked in a nice voice, rubbing Peridot's arm hesitantly. The woman didn't seem to like this and she pushed him back. It wasn't hard enough to knock him over, but it was enough to warn him to back off. "Her nose and mouth are bleeding, Garnet. Should I get Mrs. Maheswaren? Or-"

"Garnet, you heard her, she sent out the coordinates and now they _know we're here. _We have to leave, we wouldn't survive a Homeworld invasion. We have one of their soldiers, one of their interrogators." She snarled as she looked at Peridot, and everything clicked. The two punches, the aggressive behavior, it all clicked together like a complicated, perfect puzzle.

"_Oh, my stars._ You're the Lapis Lazuli that Jasper 8L2T and I interrogated after you defected." At the mention of her name, she watched the woman in question bristle at the name, and she bared her teeth at the Homeworld soldier. Garnet pulled Lapis back and she stared at Peridot, before gently patting Steven on the shoulder. 

"We're done here. Don't go anywhere, Peridot." She said, her voice strong and commanding, but it suddenly switched as she addressed the young boy. "Let's go, Steven." And with that, the three exited the room, closing the heavy steel door behind them and leaving the disgruntled clone in the room alone. 

_ Well, at least she didn't make a joke about running._


	3. Chapter 3

_ Log 1713. Jasper designation 8L2T apprehended a deserter from Blue Diamond's Storm regiment. The location of her Javelin is unknown, and the clone is currently in custody._

_"Dealing with me as an interrogator is much more manageable than Jasper 8L2T. So, let's try this again. What is your designation, Lapis Lazuli?"_

_ Log 1727. I have had a Lapis Lazuli with an unknown designation in my interrogation chamber for 3 hours, 14 minutes and 51 seconds. I have been unable to pry out any information of value, but I know that she has it. I have merely been using words to try and coax the information out of her, but it seems fruitless. I will resort to using physical means and demanding answers. If she still refuses to talk, I will let Jasper have a go at her._

_ "When did you desert, Lapis Lazuli? What is the current location of your Javelin? Why were you apprehended in Falls Sector 27 without your Javelin? Why did you not report to your Diamond sooner?"_

_ Log 1733. The Lapis Lazuli I have in custody just stares at me as I ask her questions. I demand them. I receive no answers from her, only these irritating dirty looks and glares. I have prepared my tools for our next session._

_ "I have ways of making you talk."_

_Stifled sobs of pain filled the small, dimly lit chamber in the dead of night from the restrained position in a metal chair. A cold and calculating gaze was set on a monitor before her as she paid no attention to the pained cries of her prisoner. Peridot had attached multiple lines connected to her monitor to the Lapis Lazuli's arms and head and was administering a rather high voltage directly into her body. "Why were you in Falls Sector 27, Lapis Lazuli?" Peridot certainly hated to repeat herself. Her unfeeling gaze did not even leave her screen, appearing generally uninterested as her nasally but harsh voice demanded answers. She received, unsurprisingly, no answer. She turned up the voltage and all movement of her prisoner ceased. She arched a fine brow at this and turned off the mechanism, pacing over to the defected clone. She stared down at her and tucked her lip into a look of disinterest. "Lapis Lazuli? Have you expired?" She grabbed the chin of the woman harshly and tilted her head up to look at her. _

_ What was surprising was the fact that Lapis Lazuli, in fact, was not deceased. She spat directly into the face of her interrogator, and this caused Peridot's face to fall into a blank stare. This had coaxed a laugh out of her prisoner, a sick, demented laugh at her expense. There was spit on her visor, her cheek, and her lips. A repulsed feeling settled in her stomach and she wiped it away from her mouth in a single well-oriented swipe and gave the traitor a dark look. "Very well. 8L2T, she's yours." She said simply, turning on her heel and exiting the room swiftly. She stepped through the door and moved over to the adjacent room, which had a one-way window and a series of seats. In this room sat Jasper, who wore a bored look. Peridot closed the door behind her and moved over, glancing into the interrogation room to watch the Lapis Lazuli stop laughing and smirk instead, which grew into a shit-eating grin. That irked her. _

_ "Finally. Now we'll finally get some information." Jasper grunted out, and she slowly rose from her chair. She towered over Peridot, who stood at her meager height of five feet and zero inches. Jasper, however, was a full foot and five inches taller and boasted a set of broad, muscular soldiers. Everything about Jasper was overwhelming. The woman's face and arms had an unusual scarring pattern, which offset her dark tan with random very light streaks across her face and buff arms. She had a full head of cascading white, unruly locks, which described her impulsive attitude in most situations. Jasper walked towards Peridot, slow and intimidating until she stopped right in front of her. She leaned down and ghosted a hand over the arcanist's side, making all of the muscles in that area seize up at the touch. "I'll show you how it's done, runt." She whispered, causing a shiver of discomfort to ripple over the form of the interrogator. She was suddenly shoved back against the wall and Jasper moved past her, exiting the room where the arcanist had entered. Not even a moment later, the door of the chamber opened and Peridot watched as the cocky expression on the Lapis Lazuli's face vanished. Jasper cracked her knuckles as she stepped forward, and she delicately draws one of the deserter's hands into her own. Peridot's eyebrows creased in question as she wondered about what the other woman was trying to do. _

_ And then it happened._

_ Lapis suddenly cried out in pain as Jasper twisted her fingers in an unnatural way, and used her powerful grip to break them. A disgusting, toothy grin was now on the sadist's lips as she watched Lapis suffer by her hand. The Colossus pilot was always very hands-on, which perturbed the arcanist, but she could not tell her no. She wasn't in charge. Peridot had to tear her eyes away from the screen unfolding before her and she concentrated on the screen in the room instead, beginning to type up a report as Lapis's screams were drowned out in the background by the noise in her head._

_ Log 1749. Jasper's methods are entirely unorthodox. Lapis Lazuli has not divulged any information to Jasper, and she's just in there.. beating her, like an animal. Stars, there's so much blood. I need to intervene, it's been several hours._

_ "Jasper 8L2T, that's enough. I will handle her now." Peridot announced over the PA system, causing the aggressive treatment to cease. Jasper looked over her shoulder as she pulled the wet cloth off of the deserter's face, leaving her to gasp for air and cough out water. Peridot made her way out of the small room to check up on Lapis, to make sure that her vitals were still stable. On her way through the narrow passageway, Jasper moved through the door in the chamber and left it open, opting to pin Peridot against the wall instead. A shocked, pained gasp left the arcanist as her back smacked the wall, and she flinched at the contact. Both of Jasper's huge, scarred hands were placed against the blonde's hips and forced them back against the steel sheet she was pressed against. Anxiety spiked in Peridot's stomach and caused a knot of fear to form in her stomach. "8L2T, let-- let go of me." Peridot breathed out, starting weakly. Her face flushed with shame and she angled her face away from the behemoth of a woman. Torturing the Lapis Lazuli for so long must have riled up the sadist in her, and now Peridot had to suffer, too. She felt her thick fingers drag up her stomach and her breath hitched, nerves tightening as her legs shook with fear. "Jasper 8L2T. Stop." She grit her teeth in pain as the pilot gripped her waist, threatening to crush it in her grasp. Her toothy grin lingered dangerously close to her throat, and her eyes reflected fear, wavering slightly. "Jasper." Speaking just her name seemed to do the trick because her menacing and sexual administrations stopped out of the blue. _Oh, thank the stars. _Jasper faltered and this gave Peridot a window to escape, quickly sliding from her pin and almost running into the interrogation room. Her partner did not enter the booth, but instead left altogether, signaled by the opening and closing of a far-end door. She breathed out a deep sigh of relief and closed the door she was previously trapped in the threshold in and looked to Lapis with a nauseated expression. The prisoner was giving her a slightly sympathetic look. It made Peridot even sicker._

_ "Ahem... Why were you in the Falls Sector 27, Lapis Lazuli?"_

_ "Why did she do that to you?" That was the first real thing Lapis has said since her captivity began. Her voice was hoarse from the torture and caught the arcanist off-guard. Peridot was not expecting her question to be responded with another question. And especially not on what had just occurred. She couldn't help the look of shock that touched her features at Lapis's inquiry, and she stuttered as she looked up from her datapad._

_ "Wh--what?" Was all the arcanist could mutter. Lapis shifted forward in her seat and flinched, before giving Peridot a slightly concerned, yet still drained look._

_ "No-- why do you _let _her do that to you?" Lapis asked with a certain degree of disgust in her voice. Peridot froze for a moment, thinking about her question. She opened her mouth to respond, before casting her gaze downwards. She steeled herself after a moment of hesitation and gave Lapis a hard look. _

_ "This is not an interrogation for me. This is about you. So how about you start to cooperate and answer my questions? If you refuse, I'm sure that 8L2T will be more than happy to come back in and continue with her... interrogation." Peridot used this word loosely. What _she_ did was interrogation. What _Jasper_ did was torture. "Let's begin, shall we?"_

* * *

The door to the interrogation room opened up and Peridot's eyes moved to the entrance. Standing in the threshold was the Garnet soldier from before, flanked by the Lapis Lazuli and-- _is that an Amethyst? _She looked like an Amethyst, but she was so _short_. What was going on? She suspiciously eyed the Amethyst and idly brushed a hand against her mouth, rubbing her swollen lip from the earlier blow she suffered with the back of her hand. The Garnet's eyes were hidden behind her broad pair of visors, obstructing them from Peridot's view and for some reason, it irritated her. Her tired yet inquisitive green eyes surveyed the three who passed through the threshold and firstly fell upon Garnet. The woman was tall and curvy and possessed a pair of decently broad shoulders, exaggerated by the armored jean jacket that hung open on her torso. Her hair was combed into a neat afro, somewhat rectangular, and framed her visors perfectly. She was a woman of color, her plump lips a contrasting red with the application of lipstick. She was the tallest of the three.

The shortest of the ground was an Amethyst clone, but she was defective, just like her. Too short. The woman was supposed to be the size of a Jasper or a full Quartz classified soldier but instead stood about as tall as herself. She had long white hair, just as wild as a Jasper had, and it was just as long which fit well, even on her short body. She wasn't a wall of muscle but instead had bountiful curves, and a rounder but soft body. She had tanned skin with beaming purple eyes, and a relaxed smirk present on her lips. She would have inspected Lapis Lazuli longer, but her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the tallest.

"Alright, Peridot. We're here to talk, and hopefully not throw around any more hits. We need answers, and in return, we will answer any of your questions once you've answered a sufficient amount truthfully." Garnet said in a cool, calm tone, taking a seat across the table from the arcanist-turned-soldier. Peridot observed the woman for a moment, her lip twitching irritably before she sighed out with annoyance.

"Fine, then. My name is 2F5L, I am a Peridot clone and the Javelin I fly is an Interceptor class 5XG. I was an arcanist before I was forced into the role of a soldier by the Diamonds because of my ability to pilot a Javelin. I was dispatched here with a Jasper designated 8L2T soldier in her Colossus class 2AR from Firebase Echo-473. An informant, Yellow Zircon designation 4E9L had reported heavy rebel activity in the Falls Sector 83-dash-2S4, which caught my attention because of the number of deserters intercepted in Falls Sectors. I was assigned Jasper and we took off to investigate, and I discovered your affiliation's base. I reported this back to Jasper and she left before I was shot down by you _crusty clods_." She hissed out, her jaw tightening as she recalled the crash. She crossed her arms over her chest, the chains around her wrists clattering as she brought them up to a defensive position. She surveyed the women before her, gauging their reactions to her surprisingly cooperative divulgence of information. Garnet wore a blank expression, Amethyst looked shocked, and Lapis looked uncomfortable and annoyed. The room was silent, tense. Peridot stared at the three, who stared back before Amethyst broke the tension and began to laugh. Loudly.

"Wh--what? What's so funny?" Peridot switched to a more vexed tone, appalled at the fact that she just started laughing. Laughing at _her_. The Amethyst quieted down and swiped a tear away from her eyes, placing a hand against the cool steel surface of the table as she leaned against it casually.

"Haaa, you're a riot, Peri. No, _really. _Hey, that Jasper you mentioned, did you know she never made it back?" She said so casually. The faulty clone in question received a long, blank stare from Peridot. She was registering the information in her mind, the gears turning, before it all clicked. _That means Jasper did not get my logs out. _"Yeah, I'll tell ya, Pearl's a helluva shot." _That reinforcements are not coming._ "It took some rounds, but she was able to disable that huge Colossus and sent it spiraling down directly into Scar infested ruins way down the canyon." _That means that... Yellow Diamond isn't coming. _"It would be impossible for anybody to survive that, especially with that Ancient Ash Titan wandering around."_ I will be a prisoner to a group of radical rebel insurgents for the rest of my very limited days._ The arcanist felt very uneasy. She set her hands against the table and looked down, disbelief and shock clear on her features. Her wide eyes stared down at the table before her, she was able to hear her own heart hammering in her chest. A hand was placed against her shoulder, startling her upwards and she craned her neck up to look at the woman who touched her. It was the tallest woman, giving her a gentle touch on the shoulder, which made her cringe away.

"Don't-- don't touch me." She breathed out, fingers clutching the table like it was the only thing holding her together. She swallowed nervously and looked up, finding three sets of eyes all focused on her. Her knuckles flushed white. "Stop staring at me. What are you all looking at? Don't you have some other prisoner to bother and torture?" She hated the stares she was receiving and felt so small under the weight of them. From Amethyst, dismissal. From Garnet, probably pity from the way her lips were pursed into a frown. And from Lapis-- she couldn't read that which came as a surprise. Garnet took Lapis aside and she mumbled to her quietly, speaking incoherently to Peridot as she divulged some probably useless information. Amethyst yawned and she leaned on the metal counter, mischievious lavender eyes lighting up her face. Peridot frowned at this and tried to angle herself away, before eventually speaking in a disinterested way.

"Don't you have something better to do than pester me? You're defective anyways."

And the room went silent.

It became very apparent suddenly that something was wrong, that the arcanist had said the wrong thing because Garnet and Lapis alike were no longer quietly conversing among themselves. Both pairs of eyes made their way over to connect with the form of the incapacitated pilot and her tense stance with the silent Quartz. Peridot felt uncomfortable with the way that everyone stared at her again, and she made a disgruntled expression. "What?"

"Don't call me defective." She was suddenly very serious, and this new tone coming from her made the Peridot very uneasy. She fidgeted in her seat for a moment, averting her gaze from the Quartz in front of her. She grumbled quietly, and this irritated the Amethyst. "At least I can still pilot my Javelin." This struck a very specific nerve, and Peridot clenched her fingers around the cool metal of the table pressed flush to her palms. Her knuckles flashed white from the contact.

"That's enough, Amethyst. Peridot, did you have any questions for us?" She heard the Garnet speak up. Her upper lip twitched in an annoyed manner, and she chose not to respond. Any questioned she did have seemed to die off of her lips the second Amethyst had stepped over a line. She didn't need a reminder that she could never pilot her Javelin again. The wounds were still too fresh for that sort of comment. When she received no response, she grabbed Amethyst by the arm to excuse herself and the clone in question. Peridot did not seemed phased by the death glare she received by Amethyst the whole journey out, and she found herself letting out an audible sigh of relief when the doors to the threshold slid shut. Lapis crossed her arms as she stared at Peridot, the two trading silence for a good five minutes. After the allocated time had passed, the previously violent gem spoke.

"Do you know why I even bothered to save you, Peridot?" The question sounded uninterested like she was stating it rather than asking. According to linguistics, however, the way she raised her pitch at the end of the sentence automatically pinned it as a question in her mind. 

"Is that rhetorical?" Came her dull response, irritated from her treatment here this far. Did she have a question? Absolutely tons. But where was the courage to ask them?

"No, it's not. However, I think you don't know because you wouldn't have responded like that. But," Lapis Lazuli sighed out deeply. She made her way over to the table and sat down, leg of the chair directly opposite clattering against the table's support obstreperously. "I only have one good reason why I dragged your heavily damaged Javelin and your incapacitated form eight miles." This statement came as a surprise to the arcanist, as it caused her to blink hard in shock, but she stayed silent to allow the other to finish. "It's because you pulled _her _off of me so often." Peridot didn't need a name. The revolted way that the Lapis Lazuli clone said that phrase allowed her to understand exactly who it was that she referenced. _Jasper 8L2T. _

"Yeah. I did. Jasper didn't interrogate you, Lazuli, she _tortured _you. I did it for information, and she did it for fun. I absolutely detested her methods. Although they made you more willing to answer my questions, proving to be slightly effective in that regard, I did not approve of her methods. They were unorthodox to say in the least, not to mention that your voice was almost always too hoarse to properly answer my inquiries. It was.. annoying. I was behind the glass the entire time, and could only take so much from what unfolded before me." She answered truthfully, closing her eyes as her shackled hands expressed her thoughts through exaggerated movement. It appeared as though she spoke through her hands, bearing weight as they were. When her tangent was over and she had spoken more than she anticipated, her eyes opened back up and she expected to see an irritated Storm pilot. Instead what she saw was a damaged Lapis Lazuli wearing an expression mixed of sorrow and anger. It seemed the wound was still fresh on her mind.

"That might be the only good reason, but it's not my only reason. Peridot, I saw how.. I saw what she did to you. You were so hesitant to pass through the threshold into the room I was imprisoned in if it meant you had to pass Jasper. It's against Diamond Law, how did she get away with it? How long had she been doing that to you?" This was beginning to feel like the interrogation she was expecting. In all honesty, the recent amputee didn't want to talk about this. It made her severely uncomfortable to think about it. 

"Jasper 8L2T was a Diamond favorite. She was Yellow Diamond's most decorated soldier from before the Anthem. Blue Diamond adored her because she was originally one of Pink Diamond's soldiers before her untimely death. You know that Blue Diamond loves everything that was Pink's. You were one of Blue's after all." Her final statement caused the woman seated across from her to tense up, and it was easy to hear her teeth gritting with anger from across the room. The chair scraping against the flood obnoxiously cut the conversation. Peridot and Lapis stared at each other, tension sparking between them, before the opening of a door into the interrogation chamber suddenly cut their terse silence like a fine blade.

A set of deep, ocean blue eyes and a pair of neon green eyes both darted to the intruder. It was the Garnet from before, defined by her impressive fro and visors, followed by a tall and slender woman with very pointed features. The aforementioned guard gave a polite wave to regard the other two, while the pointed woman looked disdainfully upon the prisoner. Behind them entered a new woman altogether.

She had to duck slightly to enter the room, standing at a full height that rivaled that of Jasper, a full-blown Quartz. The woman had well-kempt pink hair and a very slender build. Her face expressed joy and a sense of maternalism, and her kind eyes regarded the duo in the room next. Her eyes were a dazzling shade of magenta and were very bright in expression. Her slim form fit well in the Rebel outfit, which boasted a rose insignia on the chest of it. Peridot carefully studied this woman, as she was expecting her to be another clone, but her design and her colors didn't seem to match anything. The closest variation of clone that she matched was a Rose Quartz, but even then it didn't fit the glove right.

"Hello, Peridot! I am just so excited to meet you, Garnet has told me so much already. How are you feeling? Have you spoken with Dr. Maheswaran much?" She softly said, speaking in such a way that expressed her excitement in both her eyes and in her tone. "Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners?" The tallest woman in the room cleared her throat and gave a formal bow to the prisoner. If that didn't give her whiplash, then the next words to leave her mouth most certainly would. "My name is Rose Quartz, and I am the leader of the rebellion-- the Crystal Gems!"


	4. Chapter 4

"_You're Rose Quartz?_" Peridot's shocked voice inquired in disbelief, eyes trained on the new woman who entered the room just moments prior. _So this is the rumored Rose Quartz who defeated the Diamond Class Ranger Javelin of Pink Diamond? _The aforementioned paraplegic leaned forward in her seat, paying no mind whatsoever to the Lazuli staring her down. Soft magenta eyes connected with her own and Peridot moved to stand, only to find herself still seated by her distinct lack of something to stand on.

"I am! Garnet has told me much about you so far. I would have been here sooner, but I had been quite busy with other matters. Uh, Pearl, would you..?" Without needing to say more, the Pearl who followed Rose without question stepped out from her idle space in the room and approached the arcanist. Peridot regarded her curiously as she approached and suddenly kneeled, startling the soldier. Her hands shifted to allow her to slide up further in her chair, the chains dully clicking against the surface of the smooth steel table. "It's alright, Peridot, I asked her for something." At this angle, the Interceptor pilot could tell exactly who this woman was. She was a specifically customized clone of a Pearl model. She was very familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"You, Pearl. What is your designation?" The post-Anthem clone asked, her eyebrow arched up as her careful and scrutinizing gaze ran over the form of the woman in question. A melodious laugh echoed in the chamber, pulling the arcanist's attention back up to observe its source. It was Rose Quartz, of course, attempting to stifle her broad smile and laugh with the back of her hand. Pearl breathed out in annoyance and revealed a tape measurer she produced from who-knows-where to Peridot's stumps. She seemed to be measuring it out.

"Silly Peridot! We do not address our ladies here by a combination of letters and numbers! She's just Pearl. That is just Garnet, across from you is just Lapis or Lazuli, and I am just Rose Quartz! We're not led by the Diamonds here, Peridot. We can just be ourselves here in the rebellion. Every clone you see has made a life of her own here, the rebellion is what they can call home. We work beside humans and others as we please, and it all ends up working out." She happily said, opening her arms outwards in a gestured embrace. Peridot couldn't believe what she was hearing. Clones, living with humans? And others? What did that even mean? She shook her stumps lightly, attempting to bat the Pearl away. Said Pearl grabbed one of her stumps and looked up at her with a disdainful expression.

"Stop that. I am here to help you, Peridot, but to do that, I need the measurements of your... recently amputated legs. So keep still and let me work." Peridot swallowed hard, her thoughts suddenly grinding to a halt as she observed her further. A bright pearl embedded in her forehead, much like herself, hinting that she was an arcanist too. Her sharp, long nose that brought together her pointed look, and her peach-colored hair that was gelled into a swoop. _She's so familiar because she's Pink Diamond's Pearl. _Peridot mumbled incoherently and fussed for just a moment longer, before giving up and allowing the Pearl to do as she needed.

"Why are you all acting like this? I am your prisoner. You're supposed to be interrogating me. Instead, you've all just... helped me. Ever since you dragged me back to your medical bay. I am a prideful, fiercely loyal Homeworld soldier! Why are you not afraid!?" She waved her arms as she interjected, lip twitching up to bare her pointy teeth in irritation. Nothing was making sense in Peridot's logical mind. Some of the clones looked between one another before the so-called Rose Quartz soldier spoke up again, a ghost of a smile present on her lips. The conversation was primarily between the two of them, anyway.

"You're a long way from Homeworld, Peridot. And, with all due respect, you're not built to be a soldier. I mean, you have an arcanist gem in your forehead so you can commune with Shaper Relics. You were an informant when it came to artifacts and people, acting as an interrogator whose advantage was your control over Relics. You serve underneath Yellow Diamond. But you're fairly small, hmm.. Are you a post-Anthem Peridot? That would make sense." It seemed that part of the time she addressing Peridot, and the other part of the time she was talking to herself. It was hard to know for sure. What she did know, however, was that this Rose Quartz had been well informed about Peridots. _Did she know that much about all clones, then?_ "How did you end up on the field, Peridot?" The clone in question looked nervously between the others in the room. A Garnet. A Pearl. A Lapis Lazuli. She pursed her lips uncomfortably before tapping her fingers lightly against the table. Rose Quartz seemed to pick up on this and chuckled softly. "Of course, I understand. Garnet, Lapis, would you please exit the room?" Both clones who were addressed by their leader looked at her, glanced at Peridot, then turned over their shoulders and exited swiftly. Now that the chamber was not so crowded, the arcanist felt like she could breathe easier. Rose Quartz made her way over to the table that only somewhat restrained the Peridot, and she took a seat across from her. Pearl retracted the tape measurer after making a few marks on it with pen and stepped back to stand at the left shoulder of the rebellion leader. The arcanist, while she slightly appreciated Rose Quartz's more tame treatment, still despised her situation and let a frown openly pull her lips downward.

"I don't have to talk to the cloddy leader of a cloddy rebellion that ruined my legs, ruined my javelin, ruined my status, and ruined my life." Her response was sharp. There was just enough poison coating the tip of her tongue to leave a nasty bite with her words. She was particularly passionate about this and was adamant about letting the rebellion leader know just how disapproving she was of this entire situation. "Why are you even being kind to me? I don't get it." It appeared that while Peridot was willing to point out that she didn't _have _to talk with some 'cloddy rebellion leader' that she was going to anyways. Typical Peridot. "I'm _supposed_ to be a prisoner here. This is _supposed_ to be an interrogation, I'm _supposed_ to be tortured! Instead, the worse treatment I've gotten thus far is two hits in the face by the Lapis Lazuli who I believed to detest me, but even now that situation is fuzzy! This rebellion base is entirely illogical and vacuous in all senses of the word when Diamond Law is applied! Addressing clones by their model, not their designated make? Allowing Javelins-- _stolen, might I add_\-- to roam this base as they please? Speech and actions based on emotion, not logical thought? What is _wrong _with all of you? I can't comprehend it!"

And even after Peridot's outburst, even after her outright rejection of everything the rebellion stood by, Rose Quartz smiled. It infuriated the small Homeworld soldier to no end.

"I know this all must be so confusing for you, Peridot. I know how you function-- all logic, no emotion. But that's okay! I want you to feel at home here for the time being. This is an opportunity for you, Peridot. The Diamonds are under the impression that both you and Jasper died out here since you have not reported back in longer than 24 hours in a zone with established communication." _For being a soldier, she sure does act like she knows what goes through the Diamond's heads. _"So now, you are given a choice! You have a chance to leave a life of dull duty and eternal servitude, and you can fight with us, not against us. You can join The Crystal Gems, and experience things you have never felt before." Rose Quartz spoke in such a happy, hopeful voice. Her expression was one of delight, and she gracefully leaned forward to offer her slender, smooth but softly weathered hand with the palm facing upwards-- a gesture, a question. Peridot stared at the appendage offered to her for a long time. She knew that the leader of the rebellion was asking her to join them. She was not a prisoner here, what with the only thing to insinuate that being the shackles on her hands. Even then, they weren't needed, how was Peridot supposed to leave without any legs?

There was a lot on the table, metaphorically speaking, for the arcanist. Her conflicted green eyes dropped down to observe the physical table, and she found herself occupied looking at the scuff marks visible on the steel surface that caught the light as she became to contemplate. On one hand, she would never forsake the Diamonds she had been cloned for. It was not in her genetic code to desert, to leave, to betray. On the other, she was just another cog in the wheel that was Diamond Authority. If she had perished or disappeared, she would not be missed. Had the other clones she recently met in the rebellion just been tossed away by the Diamonds once they failed to recover? She found the question on the tip of her tongue, and before she could restrain herself, she asked in a softer, more disbelieving tone. "You, the Pearl, the Lapis Lazuli, the Garnet, the Amethyst-- did you all defect? Why?" The question had caused Pearl to stiffen up slightly. She side-eyed Rose Quartz, who exchanged the expression before her soft, unnatural magenta eyes returned to the arcanist.

"No, Peridot. Most of us were there. When the Relic of the Anthem needed silenced, all of us were sent out with an entire army. We succeeded in our mission, but at what cost? We were considered dispensable since we are all clones. Several clones had survived the endeavor, but most of them were of a different model, as you call it. Our Javelins were in terrible condition and would not make the return trip back. We dispatched an emergency message, sent out flares, and we waited. We ended up waiting for over a week, and there was still no response. We needed some sort of sustenance, and the attacks from the wild apex predators lurking all around us were getting harder and harder to fend off day by day. We were low on ammunition, we were tired, we were starving and injured, and we had almost given up hope. That was when a very small group of humans in their shoddy Javelins appeared before us, looking worn out and exhausted. We were all apprehensive and attempted to be hostile, but we dropped it as soon as they announced they received the distress signal and journeyed here to find us. Picking up the pieces of our fallen companion's Javelins, we gathered up as much of the supplies as we could before we made our way back to the human civilization at the bottom of the Sector 193 mountain range-- to an alcove named Beach City.

It was, nature-wise, a very beautiful place. These humans took us in and provided shelter. I had not even known there were any human civilizations left, because I had never seen them before. But they showed us a kindness that I hadn't even known existed. I felt feelings that I had never even known had existed for the humans, and for my fellow soldiers-- no, for my friends. We learned that the Diamonds did not care about us from reconnaissance missions, we learned that they just replaced us so easily. We remained in Beach City and continued to go back to the scene of the Anthem, where we gathered up Javelin parts to repair our own and create new ones from the parts of the broken. On one of our missions, we ran directly into-- well, I wouldn't call it an ambush, it was only three soldiers-- consisting of a Blue Diamond Zircon, a Pink Diamond Pearl, and... Pink Diamond herself." Peridot's eyes widened. The little arcanist had been entirely invested in the story being told to her, that she felt her heart sink at this information. To Rose Quartz, her child-like excitement rivaled that of her son, Steven. Not that she would mention it.

"There's no way. You had a run-in with Pink Diamond? Wait, _she left Diamond Prime willingly, just to intercept your group?_" Peridot was in disbelief. Her mouth was ajar, her hands anxiously grabbing the table, literally on the edge of her seat as she interrupted to question Rose Quartz in her intended silence pause. She just smiled again, but it was more grim this time.

"I wouldn't have believed it either, had I not met face-to-face with the Diamond herself." There were so many questions Peridot needed to ask, so many things she wanted to know, but she also knew that she had to stay quiet if she wanted to hear the rest. Yes, her questioning period could wait. "But that's enough of that story for today, don't you think?" And her smile was back to the way it was before again as if nothing had altered it in the first place. Peridot sank in her seat and made a distressed noise. This was caught and she instantly straightened up again, slightly flustered as the rebel leader smiled at her hopefully. 

"I-I--" She didn't even have the chance to interject. Pearl and Rose Quartz both rose up, bid farewell to the small woman before them, and made a move to leave. Right before Rose Quartz did, however, she smiled at Peridot and gave her a discreet wave. "I'll tell you the rest in a few days, Peridot. Have a good night."

And with that, the two were gone, leaving the small arcanist to ruminate alone at the sudden cliffhanger. _Clod_.

* * *

Very soon, a schedule had been developed. It had been two weeks since Peridot's first 'interrogation', a very loose term to use referencing the first time she was questioned. She was visited by Garnet every day, who would casually ask her questions and occasionally bring her food. It wasn't anything like the food they served in the Diamond Authority. It was homemade, not mass-produced, it smelled delectable, and it tasted even better. It made her mouth water. Over those two weeks, Peridot opened up considerably. Occasionally, she got a visit from Steven Universe, and he was always accompanied by Lapis Lazuli. She never spoke much, though, only looking at her occasionally and making small comments now and again. There was a real air of mystery about the piece that was the weathered ex-Blue Diamond soldier, and Peridot wanted to figure out exactly how she fits into the massive puzzle that was the rebellion. Amethyst hardly ever stayed for long if she did show up, and hadn't been the same around Peridot since their first encounter. She almost felt _bad _about it. Rose Quartz came in two or three times a week, depending on her availability with the rebellion. She had yet to tell Peridot the rest of the story, and she was dying to hear it. She would never admit it, but she was opening up. She was warming up to Steven and Rose Quartz, as the two had shown her the most respect and eased her into this routine.

Today, when Rose Quartz came in, she seemed more excited than usual. Her excitement was greeted by an annoyed wave. In reality, though, this was an act. Peridot was happy to see the woman flanked by the Pearl but was unable to express it properly. Acting like that was the only way she knew how to act when it came to regarding the enemy. However, the confusion was evident on her features when Pearl did not enter directly behind her. She always did, so why was this any different? She rushed over to Peridot, startling her with the vigor in which she grabbed the small arcanist's hands, and she blinked hard a few times.

"Uh-- hello. Rose." She quietly said, learning how to use their names more efficiently-- from Rose Quartz telling her to call her Rose instead, of course. "Why are you bouncy? Did something detrimental happen?" The boisterous woman shook her head and rubbed her thumbs over her knuckles-- a comforting manner, she has learned. "Then what? Just tell me. And where is the Pearl that always follows you?"

"Peridot, we've been over this. It's just 'Pearl.' But she's coming, she actually has something for you that she has spent the past two weeks working on! I hope you're as excited as I am. Today, we are going to walk through the garden!" Peridot blinked hard. What? What did that even mean? Was Rose insulting her on purpose?

"Rose. You know that I can't walk through the garden, right? Are you insulting me? You are just as aware as I am that both of my legs have been amputated from the patella down, yes?" She tried to dumb it down, a frown on her face. She was under the impression that the older woman simply did not understand the situation. Quartz clones were not always the brightest. She cocked an eyebrow at the woman in question as she spoke, lips set in a deeply creased frown. The woman seemed to falter for just a moment, before shaking her head with a light laugh, as if dismissing it.

"No, I'm not insulting you! I mean that you and I are going to walk together. Because Pearl has something special for you." A wheelchair? Pearl moved into the room as if on cue, and she carried two metal items in her hands. She walked them over and slipped past Rose Quartz, before looking to the arcanist with a soft expression, the ghost of a smile present on her lips.

"Hello, Peridot. I have spent the past two weeks, with your measurements in mind, constructing a welcome gift for you. I know that you have not officially decided to join the Crystal Gems if you have been considering it or not, but you haven't outright rejected us. We've seen a small but noticeable difference in your personality and I personally would like to give you something. I have created a pair of prosthetic legs for you, to replace the ones that I had unwittingly taken away by a misplaced shot." She almost sounded regretful. The look in her eyes was a very specific emotion, but it also happened to be one that Peridot did not comprehend and therefore could not place. Rose Quartz cut in, looking down between Peridot and Pearl as she stepped forward.

"That way, once they are fitted, you and I can walk through the garden. Well, stand on a tread that takes us past the view of the garden, and I can finish my tale of how we came to be. Dr. Maheswaran will walk you through physical therapy afterward, and Garnet will meet with you after you're done to return here." She added with a grand smile, so big it was almost infectious. Almost.

"Uhh... I am in shock." Peridot felt the need to express her thoughts, as putting them out for the others to hear and interpret may help them understand her complex feelings better. She watched, jaded, as Pearl revealed the black and green prosthetic legs to her. They were scaled nicely to her legs but seemed to require sockets to function properly. She frowned a bit at that and glanced down at her stumps which sat uselessly dangling off of the edge of her seat. "And what of my legs? It seems the prosthetics are not compatible with my current legs, Pearl. I'm not sure if you took note of that, too, or if you're simply unobservant." The Pearl in question seemed to be unconcerned with Peridot's observations, simply rising back to her feet after showcasing the prosthetics she constructed to their new owner.

"Well, Peridot, Rose did not say that you would be going to the garden first, now did she?" Pearl turned on her heel sharply and Rose walked over to Peridot, gently picking up the incapacitated individual. She was rather light after having lost her legs and considering that she was fit and small already, it was no wonder the tall Quartz could hold her with one arm. With a free hand, she disengaged the lock of the shackles from Peridot's wrists and she eased the woman into both of her arms. Pearl opened the door and placed her foot in the threshold, holding the chamber door open for the soldiers.

It was a relatively short journey, only taking a few turns and moving down a few scattered corridors, but the trio eventually arrived at a surgery room. Inside was a Dr. Maheswaren, the pointed woman snapping her gloves against her wrist as her disinterested eyes glanced up. A tired smile graced her lips and she nodded to the rebellion leader, who set Peridot down against the medical cot.

"Hello, Rose. Pearl." She regarded them with kind smiles and steely eyes, and that hard gaze turned to Peridot. Her smile almost vanished, becoming a simple ghost on her lips, and her tone was more somber. "Peridot. Shall we begin? I have other things I need finishing today. I would appreciate it if Pearl could remain here with me, Rose, so she can help with the wiring needed after the implants have been settled in." She asked her first question, receiving a gentle nod of affirmation from the tall yet skinny woman. Pearl's eyes had lit up just a bit at the thought of one of many expertise coming in handy at that moment. "You Rose, however, need to go and check up on the medical bay. A Strider docked early this morning and many of the humans who made the journey were badly injured. Blue Zircon, who was on board, is among those who were badly wounded. I'm sure they could use a visit from their leader to boost morale." She proposed, but it sounded more like a demand than a mere suggestion. If Rose Quartz picked up on this, she didn't show it. It seemed that she was more than happy to oblige and grabbed Peridot's hand, giving her knuckles the softest of caresses, before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on the top of the arcanist's head. 

"Of course. Don't worry, Peridot, you are in good hands. I'll be back in five hours, okay? That is the projected completion time, according to our fine doctor here. I'll return." The affection, which Peridot had never experienced before, left a fuzzy feeling in her chest. She despised it, but merely because she couldn't comprehend it. She felt light, all things considered and felt a lingering heat where such maternal affections were provided. She was unable to prevent the small smile pulling her lips upwards but moved quickly to cover it up with a grumble. She watched Rose Quartz exit the room until she disappeared around the corner of the threshold. Pearl had pulled an operator's table forward and atop it were scattered various mechanical parts and medical tools alike. The door into the medical room was shut and Peridot was suddenly aware of the terse atmosphere. The distinct smell of antiseptic was overwhelming and the dull humming of the incandescent light fixture, bathing the room in an alabaster white light. The doctor moved a series of lights over to the table that the arcanist had been settled on, and she grew slightly uncomfortable. She shifted to move, but a hand was suddenly against her shoulder, pushing her down to lie flush with the soft surface with a surprising amount of source. It was Pearl, who wore a look of disdain very nicely.

"To keep you from unconsciously thrashing, we'll have to restrain you. Please work with us." Pearl had requested in a soft voice but had undertones of demand settled beneath it. She didn't have much of a choice, not with the other woman subduing her with ease, and she felt durable leather straps pulled around her arms, chest, and head. Her thighs were slightly elevated by an incline platform placed against the bed, and her stumps were strapped in with ease. She frowned, feeling the anxiety clawing in her chest as she considered her situation. She was strapped down in a medical ward in some unmarked Rebel base, absolutely surrounded by sharp medical instruments and a rebel physician who knew how to use them. She had a feeling that neither of them liked her much, and attempted to quell the taut feeling in her chest. She felt a wet swap on her leg, followed by a pinching sensation that lasted briefly. She breathed out easily and clutched the worn offwhite bedsheets in her palm, eyes focused intensely on the ceiling. It soon became hard to keep them trained there, however, and she felt her strength dwindling. It felt like it had been an hour when in reality it was only mere minutes before she felt her breathing slow. Peridot's eyelids felt heavy, and she barely registered the bedsheet slipping from her lax grip. The light fixture about seemed to double and blur, before her vision faded to black.

* * *

_"You're bothering me. Go away. Don't you have anything better to do than pester me, 8L2T?" Peridot's annoyed, sharp tone cut through the arcanist's research lab, resonating with its usual nasally pitch. She had seven books splayed out on the counter before her, several of the battered and well-weathered pages overlapping with one another. A few of them were in a composed in a language that a soldier would not understand, a strange script of archaic runes doting the pages and aesthetically filling the pages. Careful and calculating green eyes scoured the pages for information, absorbing the information and scrawling down a few worthwhile notes on a pad to her left. her hand sloppy jotting a few idle observations down. She mumbled a few things to herself, reciting it as a whisper to herself to better register the information. That didn't seem to help much, however, because a bored sigh left the mouth of her companion from her right shoulder. The tip of her lead writing utensil snapped audibly. _

_ "8L2T. I am trying to work, just as you should be doing. I swear you are the laziest Jasper that I have ever had the unfortunate luck of being paired with." She grumbled, lip arching up in agitation as she turned around to face the hulking woman. The soldier in question was currently off-duty and was doing what she did best in her spare time-- bother her designated arcanist. She wore an amused, sly look, and leaned nonchalantly on the counter adjacent to Peridot. She appeared to have backed up right before she turned around, and feigned an innocent look._

_ "What are you going on about, runt? I'll have you know that I trained my newbie batch of clones for the day, and I have some off time. So, I could be out getting in overtime, working out, but why would I do that when I can help you read that mumbo-jumbo instead?" She asked nonchalantly, pointing a finger down at the many books tactfully laid out before the arcanist in question. Peridot's eye twitched, and she was quick to snag up the nearest book next to her, printed in runes, and shoved it in the giant clone's face. Jasper seemed to blink a few times in confusion, before grabbing it with a large hand and she allowed her bored marigold eyes to scan over the text. After the book was plucked from her hands, the annoyed woman turned back around to pay attention to her texts once again, minus a book. After a brief pause, Jasper made a curious noise of inquiry and she flipped the book around in her hands, a charismatic grin placed against her lips. "I see the problem here, Lil' Green. You were holding the book upside down. And I'll have you know, I'm obviously not illiterate. See, this group right here," She moved forward to bring the words, which were in fact upside down, to Peridot's face. She didn't seem amused and flushed slightly at the slight heat of Jasper's muscular bicep pressed against her shoulder. "this phrase says that the little Peridot looking at this garbage deserves a break. Oh, and that she is cute." Came her charming deep voice, raspy in all of the right ways. Peridot wanted to be mad, she did, but this effort from the large, dumb jock was endearing. She played an angry look but eventually had it broken once she saw the expression on the larger clone's face. She felt a light red tint her cheeks and she looked away. Clod. A kiss pressed against the side of her head completely broke her out of her stubbornness, and she turned to face the towering soldier. Even if she wasn't refusing her now, she still had an unsure and nervous look on her face._

_ "8L2T. You know that this is strictly forbidden. Diamond Authority Law 62, Section 4A states that any clone that engages in romantic or sexual endeavors with anything else, including other clones regardless of Diamond affiliation will be immediately demoted, removed from the lines, and sent back to White Diamond Prime for reconditioning." She stated, her voice flat with a sharper note emerging. Jasper did not seem phased by this and she only shrugged, brushing a calloused thumb along the arcanist's side._

_ "Yeah yeah. Jeez, you sure are a bookworm, remembering what section and numbered law that is. C'mon, Lil' Green, relax for just a sec." It was so rare to see this side of Jasper. the brute was always so mean and commanding in the line of duty, and even on most days when she wasn't wearing a Javelin. But here, in the empty arcanist library, Peridot and Peridot alone could see a softer side to such a brutish woman. A gentle touch against her chin was able to coax her gaze back to the usually commanding and rude clone, and she relaxed slightly as that annoying, scarred and discolored face looked back at her. _

_ "You're such an insufferable clod." She muttered before their lips brushed and Peridot sighed at the contact. One of her dexterous hands got lost in the other woman's unruly mane of white, and she finally felt like she could relax._

* * *

Peridot opened her eyes and flinched at the light, closing them just as fast as she opened them. _Damn. It's bright. Where am I?_

"Oh, good, she's waking up. Dr. Maheswaren, Peridot is awake." She heard the statement with impressive diction announced, and immediately deducted it was Pink Diamond's Pearl. _Formerly. _

"Excellent. Pearl, please undo her restraints." The arcanist blinked a few times, attempting to adjust to the incandescent light that was on the verge of blinding her, before everything seemed to clear up and she saw the pointy nose of Pearl to her left, and the dark, curious yet tired face of the doctor directly above her. She groaned in a soft tone and felt the restraints peel away, allowing her to inhale and fill her chest cavity with oxygen. It was a welcome stretch, and a numb hand twitched at her side. Her body felt like it was covered in pins and needles. She huffed softly and blinked hard as she gazed up at the darker-skinned woman, who wore an unamused look. "Can you move, Peridot? The operation went without a hitch. Try sitting up, but-- slowly, please." She mumbled, and the arcanist found herself complying. Before she knew it, her abs strained and she pulled herself up into a sitting position, slow enough that the black creeping into her vision was held at bay. Other than a bit of nausea, she was doing well. She felt a cool, weathered palm against her arm as Dr. Maheswaren steadied her, and wiped the back of her hand against her forehead in success. "Take a look."

The prosthetics felt so wrong, so out of place, but they looked secure against her legs. Peridot felt her eyes widen slightly at the appearance, and she barely noted Pearl stepping to stand by her legs instead. The other woman's cool palm dropped down to touch her leg and she flinched at the contact, retracting it fast. "Why are--" _I felt it. _The realization set in, and her breath caught in her throat. She felt Pearl place a hand against her leg, she could feel the sheets rustling under her leg-- how? She blinked in surprise and dropped one of her own hands down, carefully smoothing a palm over the almost scaled plating. She felt exactly where her hand was brushing, and there were suddenly tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. "I can feel that?" She mumbled, dumbfounded, awestruck, chest light and happy. It was like she had legs again. After not walking for so long, being confined to a room and even worse a single chair, this was heaven to her. "Wow, I... I'm impressed." Was all she could say. A stubborn soldier, who was mostly incapable of properly thanking the other women, so instead took to admiring their work. That was always more important in the Diamond Authority anyway. "Would you mind helping me up?" It was a simple, easy request, but she could have said it nicer. Pearl seemed to incoherently mutter something before she gingerly took hold of the Diamond soldier's arm and pulled her forward, little by little. Soon, both of her green and black prosthetics were dangling off of the edge of the hospital bed, segmented feet brushing gently against the cool marble floor. It took her a long hesitant moment but after she gathered her courage, desperately leaning into the hand of Pearl for support, she dropped off of the bed. Her loud metal feet clunked against the ground and she wobbled, threatening to fall if not for the other clone steadying her. She trembled and swayed a few times, iron and carbon feet shuffling hard against the scratched up and laminated surface below them before her motion stabilized. Pearl hesitantly let her go and the soldier stood on her feet. Her own two feet-- well, faux as they were, she could feel the ground beneath her, where her projected toes were placed and that was enough for her. Looking around produced a puzzled, quizzical expression on her features, and an eyebrow was cocked in dismay. Was everything in a rebel bay supposed to be this small? Even the doorways felt shorter, by a noticeable amount. Right on time, the door opened and a gasp was heard from behind her. She struggled with her footing, the weight unfamiliar until she came to face the leader of the rebellion once more. She was smiling, a grin so big that it took up an unreasonable amount of her face, and it was infectious. The cold Peridot felt a smile break her lips. S_he was proud, she was thankful,_

"I am so glad to see you up on your feet! You look great, the color choice was an excellent decision, Pearl! Thank you, you two, so much for all of your work and for allowing this wonderful miracle to occur. I know that myself and our friend here are very thankful for all that you have done already. Peridot, would you like to come with me now to view the garden? I will finish my story for you, I know that you must be very excited."

"Of course, Rose. I would very much enjoy that."

_She was whole._


	5. Chapter 5

"Pink Diamond, her personal Pearl, and a Blue Zircon stood before us, fully decked out in their Javelins. We were on the offense, our limited weapons raised and focused on the warriors before us. Pink Diamond's Ranger Class Javelin was top of the line. The Blue Zircon piloted an Interceptor, and Pink Diamond's Pearl was in her personal Interceptor Javelin. We were sure that there had to be more nearby. These three Javelins might have been quick and powerful, but they were no Colossus. Three of them, and seven of us. Pink Diamond was the first to speak, demanding who we were, and why we had stolen Javelins. We explained to her that we no longer followed the Diamonds, and she just laughed at us. There was more arguing between us, and Pink Diamond began to make threats. She told us that she had an ambush waiting at every entrance of the valley of the Anthem. She moved forward, her weapon ready, and--" Rose slammed her hands together, giving Peridot a start as the loud clap spooked her. She was extremely invested in the story that Rose Quartz was telling, shakily standing on the prosthetics holding her up. "Her own Pearl shot her in the back." Peridot felt her jaw drop, and she shook her head violently.

"No, I don't believe that. I  _ can't  _ believe that, Rose. There is no clone more loyal than a Pearl, it's implanted directly into their genetic code."

"Oh, Peridot... I know that you're a post-Anthem clone, you must be. If you were not, surely you would have known about Pink Diamond's  _ first  _ Pearl.." This statement had shut the arcanist up very quickly. First Pearl? What was that even supposed to mean? Before she could even open her mouth to ask, Rose had already began to speak, changing the subject to return to her story before she could be questioned. "With her defenses down, Pearl took another shot, and Blue Diamond's Zircon shot into action. She slashed at the Diamond's armor and was quick to incapacitate Pink Diamond. It turns out that it was nine to one the whole time. Her Pearl and the Zircon betrayed a Diamond. The commotion must have drawn in scavvers and Scars, and the next thing we knew, we were torn between killing Pink Diamond to finally start our rebellion against the Diamonds, fighting off the army of Scars marching in, or just turning tail and getting out of there alive. Pearl disabled Pink Diamond's armor and the two that betrayed her ran to us.

Blue Zircon told us that Pink Diamond was bluffing about the ambush, and said we have to get out of there now. We left Pink Diamond behind, defenseless, and the Scars killed her in that valley. On our expedited journey back to Beach City, we asked them why they betrayed the Diamonds. It took some time, but we were able to get actual answers out of them and we showed them our city. Beach City became the base for our rebellion. I met a lovely human mechanic by the name of Greg DeMayo, and he taught me things I hadn't even known existed. I felt all new feelings, and we fell in love." The Peridot's expression squinted a bit and her lip curled in disgust. Love? What a useless emotion. It hurt her chest to think about it. "The next day, we all began to think about what happened. How we were responsible for the death of one of the four leaders of the Diamonds. I had a meeting with many of the humans of the cover present and told them of our situation. The Diamond Authority was responsible for driving them into hiding, and many of them were eager to join us. Long after the humans had left, we continued with our discussion and our next steps to take. Establish a headquarters, go out on reconnaissance missions to recover Javelin parts, and.. think of a name for our rebellion. We could not seem to agree on anything, the discussion growing into a small argument between the clones when one male human interrupted us. It was Greg, of course, and the silly man had such a cute and sheepish look. He asked us, 'Why not the Crystal Gems? You're all named after a gem of some sort.' Zircon and Pearl had laughed at him and told him that it was stupid. They believed we needed something scary, but I interjected. I announced my name, Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems Rebellion. The room went quiet, and I received all sorts of looks. They seemed to be registering before they all shifted to that of approval. From that night on, we became known as the Crystal Gems, and we operate out of Beach City. Maybe if you decide to join us, Peridot, we can show it to you."

The story had concluded, Rose decided to wrap it up because of how long she had already been talking. Peridot had been so invested in her story that she hadn't paid much mind of the garden that they were moving past on the treads beneath her feet. The only thing that had stood out to her was the large statue in the middle, of Rose Quartz, with a variety of pillars and long disabled relics scattered about. Soon enough the tread reached an end and Peridot shakily stepped off, her metal feet clanking audibly against the steel floors of the base. She looked at the woman who placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her and nearly had to close her eyes from how bright of a smile she offered.

"The Rebellion can offer you so many things, Peridot. You can do whatever you want, you can do what feels right to you. To us, to all of us in the Rebellion, you matter. We would not just throw you away like the Diamonds did, Peridot. If one of our soldiers go missing, we send out large search parties to find them and bring them back home. If you're still on the fence about this, I understand and will drop it. Now, let's get you back to the good doctor for your physical therapy. You'll be running on your legs in no time at all." Peridot felt it again. A strange, warm feeling in her chest that she hadn't known. She couldn't identify it. It felt like a very strong emotion, perhaps an admiration? It was potent, and she felt like smiling. She had felt content like this, albeit being slightly uncomfortable in this new territory. She breathed out easily and puffed her chest out just a bit, looking up at the leader before her. Rose was 'down to Earth', a term coined by Steven in one of his visits with Peridot when he was describing his mother to her-- whatever that meant. The realization of her situation hit the small arcanist pretty hard. She was standing in front of the leader of the rebellion, who had been a thorn in the Diamond Authorities side ever since the Anthem Incident, without any guards. Neither of them were armed, to her knowledge, and she was just listening to a story. A true, heartfelt story, which could reveal the location of their secret headquarters. She needed time to process all of this information.

"Rose, I will... I will think about it. I cannot give you a definitive answer now, I have much to think about, to contemplate. I am... thankful for what you have done for me thus far, so that may influence my decision." She muttered quietly, appreciating the hand that kept her steady. Perhaps she could go back some other time to see the garden, she felt a little guilty for not paying attention during their talk. Using Rose as her crutch, the taller and older clone helping her along as they approached the medical wing. As they neared the physical therapy room, Pearl's lanky pacing form came into view. Peridot was not exactly quiet as she limped along, her metal feet decently loud as she walked over, and this had caught Pearl's attention. The tall, skinny woman straightened up and approached at a startling speed. 

"Rose! There you are. Blue Zircon woke up around 20 minutes ago and divulged to me some information of interest. The Strider that she was escorting? She told me that it was unlike anything she had ever seen. I have reason to believe that the Diamond Authority has come up with a way to either manipulate or train creatures as attack dogs, essentially. The lesser titan that attacked the Strider wore armor, according to Blue Zircon." She was quick to speak, not paying any mind to the Peridot that Rose was helping along. She held a hand up and regarded her with a soft smile, dismissing her wordlessly.

"I understand. Garnet and Dr. Maheswaren are in there, yes? I will drop her off, and then you and I can go to the ward and speak with ZIrcon." The rebellion leader said in a gentle tone and entered the physical therapy room with Peridot successfully supported in her grip. As expected, Garnet and the human doctor were inside, quietly conversing with one another, and there was someone else between them, too. This came as a surprise to both Peridot and Rose, as the boy sitting on the counter in the conversation was none other than Steven Universe. He moved his gaze away from the conversation and they connected with the two new figures who appeared in the room. His eyes instantly lit up, and he was off of the counter and before the two faster than the arcanist could blink. "Oh, Steven, how are you, honey?"

"Moooooom! Peri!! Hi you guys!" He was a little bolt of energy, striking forward and patting Peridot's arm excitedly. "Wow! Your legs look so good, Pearl did a fantastic job! Everyone is so nice here, helping you out! I picked out the colors for your legs, do you like them? I thought it would suit you! I was just talking with-" He was speaking a million miles a minute. Peridot had known Steven for two weeks now, but she still was not completely used to his energy yet. Even an Interceptor's top speed would not rival the pace in which he could speak.  _ Wait, Peri? _ Peridot tucked her lip back with a curious distaste and she felt Rose's grip on her release. She watched as the woman chuckled and placed a hand on the boy's head, ruffling his fluffy black hair gently as he embraced tightly. He looked at her with beaming eyes and she smiled fondly. 

"I'm glad to see you, Steven. I've been told by Lapis that you've been hanging out a lot with Peridot lately. That's very sweet of you. I would love to stay here and talk with you more, but I have business to attend to." Steven seemed to deflate a bit at this, but his energy returned when Rose kneeled and placed a loving kiss against his forehead. "I will be headed out. Let's go, Pearl." She said over her left shoulder, before turning to Peridot and offering her a supportive smile. "Don't worry, I know you'll do great." A kiss was placed against her forehead next, right on the arcanist gem embedded in her forehead, and the short blonde got a little wobbly. Rose was out the door fast, the Interceptor pilot only registering the door shutting before she looked around. Steven laughed and pat Peridot against the shoulder. He was around thirteen years old and stood at a height of just barely five feet. Had Peridot had her actual legs and not prosthetic limb enhancers, she was sure she would be the same height as him. 

"Well Peri, I'm here to help you out with your physical therapy! After that, I'm hoping that you can help me with my math?" He asked hopefully, beaming at the woman with childlike wonder. It was a real mystery how a young boy so plagued by wars in this world could be so positive. At his request, Peridot grumbled and waved a hand dismissively, shakily stepping over to where the other adults had set up a small course to move through. Although she seemed bothered by Steven, she had been learning to like him more and more, and she found herself enjoying his company quite a bit. He was quirky and full of energy, and visited Peridot very often, almost always accompanied by the mysterious clone Lapis Lazuli. The arcanist had fallen into an easy swing of helping Rose's son with homework of all sorts, ranging from mathematics to history to relics. As a clone created to research and commune with relics, she was very well versed in all of these topics and was always admired for her work out of the field. Thinking about it, she missed the life of cooping herself up in the arcanist's library all day and dreaded the feeling of never being able to return to that. A voice startled her out of her mind.

"Peridot? We should get started." Garnet's kind tone suggested, offering a hand to the woman. She stared at it for a long moment, before a more determined look was set into her green eyes and she took it.

* * *

"That sure was some hard work today! Don't 'ya think, Peridot?" Steven's light voice rang out, and the small boy brushed his hands off after his work was accomplished. He was currently seated at a small metal table in a cell and had two books splayed out across the surface of the tabletop. One was a textbook, one that appeared well used and nearly falling apart, and a rough-looking notebook with words scrawled all over the page. Most of it consisted of numbers and letters, followed by some notes for explanation. He allowed his pencil to fall against the notebook and his bright chocolate brown eyes turned to the woman seated on the other side of the table.

Peridot had been moved into an actual room a little while ago instead of remaining in an interrogation cell. The door was locked from the inside, and a courtyard could be seen outside of her barred up window in the corner. The room was rather small, but at least the essentials were here. A bed slotted into the wall, a small metal table with two chairs, and a jointed room that led to a toilet and sink. It was just like her room in the Diamond Authority, so she couldn't help but wonder why they were treating her so well. Was that supposed to be a punishment?

"I believe we have completed a sufficient amount of work for the day. Considering we have covered the next three weeks of information with the equations I have provided, you will complete your basic studies in no time. We can move onto more advanced formulas after we break that point." Peridot spoke in a nasal voice, sounding very matter-of-fact with the advanced words she used. Taking a glance outside to observe the time, she took note of how the mountains of the cliff sides had already swallowed up the sun, leaving only streaks of orange and yellow hues across the sky as it faded into a midnight blue. "It's getting rather late. You need to head back to your designated rest area, Steven. You humans require sleep every night, or you cannot function properly. That pertains to some of the research I performed in the Arcanist's Library." She hummed in thought and allowed her gaze to wander down to the many books scattered about her. She stilled for just a moment, before closing the tattered textbook and Steven's notebook. She stacked them and pushed the two to the end of the table, flickering her bored gaze back up to observe the boy. She looked annoyed, but honestly enjoyed the younger boy's presence. His general upbeat attitude about things and his strange sayings, which he called 'jokes' were very welcomed. His smile and laughter were infectious, and she found him just as enjoyable as his mother who treated her so well. She rose to her feet, still a bit shaky with her steps, and marched over to Steven to slid his books into his food shaped backpack. He was very proud of calling it his 'Cheeseburger backpack!' and it had always riled a laugh out of Lapis or Garnet, but Peridot never understood why. Probably more rebellion humor that she had been unfamiliar with. The arcanist was knocked out of her thoughts however when the young boy patted her on the arm and spoke, looking up at her. 

"Thanks for your help, Peri! You're a really smart person, you know? I don't know anybody as good at math as you are!" He hollered happily, his eyes lighting up in pure delight. Peridot was spooked the first few times she had spoken to him, but it seemed that she was pretty immune to his sudden loudness when speaking in confined spaces. All she gave was a small flinch before she grumbled to fight back the smile threatening to touch her lips. She instead allowed her ego to inflate.

"Well of course. As a technician and an arcanist, I had to be superb at these sorts of things! They are my specialty, after all, it's what I was cloned for." She placed her hands against her hips victoriously and nodded to him, acknowledging his praise. He seemed confused as she said this and cocked an eyebrow up, a small laugh escaping him. It sounded a bit hesitant as if he were nervous, but Peridot couldn't tell the difference.

"Cloned? Ha, I guess I forgot that you're a clone. What is it like, Peridot? I mean, the cloning process?" He suddenly asked. Peridot paused and she looked at the boy, who stared at her with weary, curious eyes. He didn't stand from his seat, looking up at the clone before him. The arcanist stared back before she returned to her seat and she sat down before him.

"Well, how much do you already know?" The response she received was a shake of his head.

"I don't know much. I asked mom about it, and I've asked Garnet and Pearl and Amethyst, but they haven't told me anything." He cast his eyes down and he idly traced his fingertip against the table, moping against his palm as he propped his elbow up on the table. "The only clone to ever talk about it was Lapis, and even then she just said how something was wrong when it came to my mom." Peridot's eyes narrowed.  _ So Lapis Lazuli could see it too? It's settled then. I need to find Lapis Lazuli and ask her about this.  _ She made a mental note, before regarding the boy sitting before her again as he opened his mouth to speak. "I'm not sure what she meant by that. but she seemed kinda on edge. Hey, you're new, Peridot, do you think there's something wrong?" He asked, his big chocolate brown eyes looking at the arcanist expectantly. Peridot's chartreuse eyes darted to the side, unable to keep eye contact as she pondered an appropriate answer. Her lips pursed and formed a tilde, a frown.  _ Humor him for now. I'll address this properly after I've discussed it with Lapis Lazuli.  _ There was something that had been particularly appealing about the clone in question. There was something that seemed to spark behind those aggressive and unimpressed azure eyes that drew the arcanist in. Peridot had only interacted with Lapis on a few occasions, and they were never the best situations, either. The first of their interactions had begun in the interrogation room, which made for a bad first impression.

* * *

_ Log 4758. The Lapis Lazuli in custody has begun to open up to me in the past few sessions we've had. After our conversation regarding... 8L2T, the defector has been giving me a pitied look. While my preferred method of extracting information revolves around intimidation and the promise of harm using shaper relics, I suppose this form of manipulation will do just fine. 8L2T has not been needed as of late, due to the threat of her appearance causing the Lapis Lazuli enough fear to divulge a satisfactory amount of information.  _

_ "So, Lapis Lazuli, you are a pre-Anthem gem? That doesn't narrow it down for me too much. Sure, there are some cloning facilities I can eliminate from the roster due to their post-Anthem construction, but that leaves around 70 facilities scattered intergalactically that could bear your designation." Peridot mumbled to herself, sketching a few things down on her holographic screen that was displayed before her. She was speaking with their prisoner as she wrote down notes and actively searched for the cloning facilities in question. Her calculating gaze moved over to make eye contact with the other woman's roaming blue eyes, which seemed like they were elsewhere. "That's a lot of paperwork to file to get access to records. And even then, any designations or markings of your intended code could long be gone and I would be left with mile-high stacks of paperwork and records for nothing. So, it would be much easier for you to--" _

_ "Eight-Oh-Zero-B. That is my designation. Lapis Lazuli, Eight-Oh-Zero-B." She was suddenly interrupted by the other woman, and her darting finger's movement ceased instantly. Her eyes flickered to the face of the prisoner, who was giving her a very serious look. Peridot was quick to open her tabs and brought up her notes, and wrote it down. Lapis Lazuli, designation 8O0B... Wait... _

_ "Lapis Lazuli!" She shouted as she slammed her hand down against the table. The clone with blue hair had her facade broken by that, and she snorted as a smirk touched her lips. "Your designation does not spell 'boob,'_ _you insufferable clod!" She barked at the other woman who just released another snort and leaned back, looking satisfied with herself as the arcanist lost her cool. With a wave of her hand, the notepad she had was dismissed and a very irritated clone stood to her feet. She smoothed a small hand through her spiky and unruly blonde hair, slicking it back to retain its triangular shape. "We're done here since you seem so adamant on continuing to waste my time. I have emails to write and requests to send." She grumbled and was quick to leave her seat. She approached the door when she was stopped by a voice over the intercom._

_ "Sit back down, runt. We need more information. Unless you want me to take a stab at it?" A deep, huskier and gravelly voice suggested into the room, and both of the inhabitants of the room seized up. It was Jasper, who must have been sitting in the adjacent chamber to overlook the interrogation. The way that she suggested her method-- a stab at it-- unnerved Peridot. She was sure that the beefy soldier was a little more literal in the way that she offered her assistance. _

_ "I do not need your unnecessary interference, 8L2T. Go to the arcanist's library and receive the records from 111-4-078, August. If you ask Peridot designation 2F7K, she will find the appropriate records. Do not return empty-handed." The response was a growl over the microphone above before silence greeted the terse chamber. A few moments later, the light fixture dangling above shook ever so slightly, signaling a door being slammed with a considerable amount of force. Peridot breathed softly and walked back to her seat, sliding into it and sending a concerned look to the prisoner across from her. She had seemed shaken up at the previous declaration, which didn't work too well for the interrogator. "I sent her away. She can't see or hear you, so please, calm down. You have to work with me. If you do not, Yellow Diamond will surely have Jasper reconvene again and I cannot protect you." Protect? That was an interesting choice of words, but Peridot didn't have the opportunity to consider them for long before she received a skittish look. But more importantly, a nod of affirmation. She didn't care to prep her notepad for this. _

_ Log 4759. Lapis Lazuli is an enigma. She vexes me in every way possible, and I can't help but feel gravitated towards her. This feeling terrifies me. I need a reassignment before I get too close. Maybe then 8L2T will not be allowed to lay a finger on her. _

* * *

"...-dot? ..-ridot? Hello-oooo, Exo to Peridot? Mission control to--"

"What? Sorry." Was the arcanist's lame response. She seemed somewhat out of it, blinking hard to find herself in her temporary quarters--prison. She was a prisoner. Steven was waving his hand in front of her face and was much closer than before, an aloof expression present on his features as he had been trying to get her attention since she spaced out. He had his bag on his back and was standing now, which was a slap to the face as she realized she had been so out of it that she didn't even process him moving about before her gaze. She shook her head and rubbed one of her eyes with her left hand tiredly, an attempt to recollect herself after her idleness.  _ Thinking about Lapis Lazuli made me space out. That's not what I need. _ Steven offered her a small supportive smile as he patted her shoulder. 

"That's okay, Peri. I know you have a lot on your plate. No rush! I'm sure you'll want to join us when the time is right." Peridot's eyebrows creased together in confusion, watching the boy walk towards the door of her chamber.  _ Had he been asking me to join the rebellion? How much did I miss?  _ "Take your time. Thanks again for the help, I'll see you around!" He hollered over his shoulder and then proceeded to disappear through the threshold. The door closed and locked behind him, leaving the arcanist-turned-soldier alone in her vacant room once more. She closed her eyes and breathed out, alone again at last. The arcanist rose from her seat and approached her bed, taking a seat on the small ledge that jutted out. She looked around the room, finding everything to be in its proper place and to be in satisfactory condition. The arcanist breathed out in relief, glad to be alone again, and she moved to lie down. She easily slid into the cove that was her bed, a comfortable slot in the wall that did a sufficient job of blocking out the dim white lights in the room. After she lie still for a few moments, the lights faded out in a softer hue. A light blue hue that simulated the moons outside now bathed the room, a calming effect washing over the arcanist as she settled against the sheets. Her eyes slipped shut, and she was ready for sleep to claim her and her racing mind.

That is, until a dull  _ thunk  _ at her window interrupted her sleep process. She ignored the first two hits before the third impact caused her eyes to snap open. She groaned inwardly and slid out of the bed, scanning her eyes carefully across the room to find the source of the unwelcome interruption.  _ Thunk-thunk.  _ It was unmistakably glass, from her window perhaps? The lights of the room flickered back up at the movement of Peridot, who stormed over to the window in question to find the source of that bothersome noise. She pulled at the small grey curtain to glare at the offending glass, when she suddenly froze. Her heart leaped into her throat as she found herself staring into a pair of Egyptian Blue eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, jaw opening uselessly, and found no words that would come out. The woman was flying, somehow, or hanging onto something? She was high up, obviously, and this was the last thing Peridot had expected to see when she glared daggers at her window. The rebellion soldier breathed against the glass that was located on the other side of the bars and wrote backward, albeit poorly-- 'free to talk?' This was a request she could not see herself denying.

Somehow, this interruption was no longer one that Peridot could loathe.


	6. Chapter 6

An incredulous Peridot clone stared into the gaze of a mysterious Lapis Lazuli. The arcanist had only been held by the rebellion for a mere two weeks and yet she was already being affected by all there was to see. She was meeting Lapis Lazuli on entirely different terms than she had in the Diamond Authority, and it made her feel on edge. Lapis had no reason to be interacting with Peridot, so what was it that was so important? The Diamond Authority soldier's gaze shifted into a blank one as she pondered a possible response. She glanced down at her own hands for a moment, before replicating the rebellion soldier's action of breathing on the glass and drawing her pointer finger against the glass. She didn't have to avoid a metal cage, unlike the woman she was conversing with. She struggled for a moment to write backward but was able to complete the task after a few brief pauses to consider her next move. The glass was a question to answer the other woman's question. A simple inquiry-- 'why?' The blue-haired clone offered the smallest possible smile and Peridot frowned. Instead of receiving a response, the woman outside of her window ducked down and disappeared for a brief moment. Out of curiosity, the soldier pressed herself against the glass to try and spot her again-- when the metal cage suddenly disengaged from the window with a startling _thunk_. Peridot let out a cry of alarm and stumbled back, her unsteady prosthetics not used to stepping backward yet and she went crashing to the ground. The chair that was located behind her clattered loudly as her back impacted it, and an audible moan of pain left the soldier's lips. For a stealthy interceptor, she certainly made a whole bunch of noise. 

"Hey, _clod_. Are you alright?" Came the voice of the other woman, which only served to give the small arcanist a jolt of surprise. In the commotion, the rebel fighter had pried the window up and was currently leaning in, her concerned expression zeroed in on the incapacitated woman. The arcanist's slightly dazed eyes made its way to the ex-Homeworld soldier, and the moment felt unreal. Lapis Lazuli had her body half inside of the room and half outside, her slender arms holding her firm against the window sill as she looked at Peridot with furrowed brows. Suddenly Lapis's words clicked in her head. _Clod? Did Lazuli just use my own insult against me? _For some terrible reason unbeknownst to Peridot, she flushed a bit and scrambled as she struggled to her feet. The other woman had made a move to enter and help the soldier up but must have decided against it and sat still in her perch. Once she was on her feet again, slightly pink cheeks and dignity vaguely retained, she brushed her palms over her the plain white shirt she wore. She looked unamused, a stark difference to the woman who had so rudely interrupted her feeble attempt at sleep. 

"Refrain from using my insult against me. Wanting another interrogation, Lazuli? If that's the case, why didn't you just use the door like a normal person? I wouldn't be surprised if you alerted the others of your misconduct by making so much noise." She chided the woman who was leaning in her window, a lazy little smirk playing on her lips. Peridot wanted so desperately to wipe that look off of her face because she felt like she couldn't look away. This thought pestered here severely and she frowned deeply at the amusement the other woman seemed to receive from this situation. "Stop making that face. It's annoying." Peridot's words did nothing to wound the rebel, and mischievousness seemed to dance in those deep eyes that Peridot loathed to get lost in.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on punching you in the face again. I think you stumbling and falling over and hitting a chair was a punch in the face enough, don't you think?" Lapis chuckled quietly as she looked at the irritated Peridot, obviously enjoying the torment she was putting her through. She paused for a moment, seeming to gauge Peridot's reaction before she leaned up from her more relaxed position and released a sigh. "I'm not here for that. I... actually wanted to walk with you a bit. I guess that's why I pried your window open. What do you say?" Peridot blanched. What exactly was the blue-haired woman trying to pull? Instead of listening to her logical mind and staying put, she felt her legs shift forward just a bit, and took a step, much against what her head had been telling her. She was ready to stop after one step, to demand that she back away, but that beaming look Lapis gave her was enough to convince her legs to keep moving. There was an extremely constrictive emotion in her chest, clutching her heart and this unknown sensation filled her with fear. She could not comprehend what this feeling was, and it disturbed her to no end.

The rebel partially in her room gave her a curious eyebrow raise with a small smirk and she slipped out of the window, propping herself against the sill outside as she held out a hand. Peridot was at the window now and she reached out a hand before she drew it back nervously and looked into those eyes that threatened to draw her in. After a long moment of silence and some wordless coaxing, Peridot breathed out deeply and against her better judgment, her small yet dexterous hand slipped into the cooler slender palm of her guide.

"Fine. You better have something good to talk about. Let's just get this over with."

* * *

With a generous amount of coaxing, both verbally and physically when it came to the interceptor pilot, the two found themselves on the ground that was three stories down. The path wasn't very wide around the cliffs, so they were precariously passing over ledges. Peridot's instability when it came to her prosthetic legs made her pale at the drop. Looking down into the canyon that almost took her life made her nauseated, but the rebel insurgent assured her that she would not let her fall.

A few rocks went clattering down the cliff as Peridot's heavy and uneven steps caused a slight shift in the ground below her mechanical feet. Her breathing picked up just a bit and she pressed tighter to the sheer cliff face, dilated chartreuse eyes nervously staring down. She must have stopped moving because she heard an amused noise come from her left and a small tap against her shoulder. She shot a glare at the woman, who grinned in return. "C'mon, just a little further and we'll be off of the cliffside." Peridot wanted so desperately to wipe that stupid look off of her face but found herself unable to move much at the moment. It seemed that was out of the question. Instead of continuing to move, she shot her eyes back at the canyon and fear gripped her heart, barking at Lapis in a rude tone.

"Where are you even leading me? What, are you trying to kill me _again?"_ She snapped, trembling ever so slightly at the panic rising in her heart. She was not able to see the other woman falter at Peridot's accusation. Instead, she kept moving and the soldier inhaled sharply, braving this fear of hers that she didn't know she had, and began to shuffle again. "You went quiet. Now I have to assume that you want to kill me."

"Peridot, shut up." She sharply demanded, and the biting tone of her voice left no room for argument. Peridot bit her lip as her mouth snapped shut like a mousetrap. Neither of them spoke for the rest of their shimmying onto wider, more solid ground and the air between them was terse. Peridot did not end up falling and she thanked the stars for that. Lapis didn't care to even look over her shoulder when they safely made it to the stable path to assure Peridot made it as well. They walked in silence, Lapis leading the way, and the arcanist couldn't help but feel an uncomfortable weight in her chest and dread in her stomach. The other woman was not acting playful like she had earlier, perhaps she struck a nerve? It was the most likely, but the strange thing was the fact that her chest felt constricted. She felt _guilty_ about this, just like she had with Amethyst, another clone she hadn't seen since her 'rude' comment. She was just being realistic, so why were the others all so sensitive about it? Nothing made logical sense to her in that respect. Her steps were unsteady and uneven as she climbed the path that seemed to be winding up and down and around, a very natural path that moved with the land as opposed to against it. She was struggling to keep up, and even fell two or three times while on the path to Lapis's desired objective. Not once did the other woman look back to check on her prisoner, and the arcanist felt dread building in her belly. They were straying farther and farther away from the base, and Peridot knew that she shouldn't be out. She knew that Lapis shouldn't have taken her, she knew that she should not be so far away from the rebel base, and felt the anxiety spiking into her chest. What would Rose say? _Better even, why do I care what a rebel leader thinks?_

She was not paying attention to where she was walking, so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't have any attention focused on where she was walking. She collided directly into the back of the taller woman and a distressed noise escaped her throat, drawing her hands up quickly to grab the rebel's shoulders. She stuttered an apology and took an uneasy step back to look at the woman, confusion present in her expression. "Sorry, I didn't see you stop. Why are we--" Lapis turned to look at the smaller woman and held a hand out before her, a gesture to take in the environment before them. "stopping..." All other possible words had died on Peridot's tongue.

The rebel had led the party of two deep into nature and had even cut through some brush and foilage just to get here. Saying that the winding and dangerous walk was worth it was the understatement of the era. The scene before her was breathtaking. There was an easily flowing pool of water in the basin before them, the surface decently calm and reflecting the moonlight from the planet high above. Tall trees and cliffs allowed for privacy and seclusion, a sight to behold for the arcanist seeing nature in such a way for the first time. At the end of the tiny lake was a waterfall that poured into the body of water, a much quieter roaring of the falls as compared to the indescribably large falls that were often encountered on this planet. The cool 70-degree night was welcomed by the Diamond Authority soldier, and for the first time outside of her suit, she felt free. 

Lapis walked forward into the stunning environment and Peridot froze for a moment, before surging forward to follow her. When she got to the edge of the water, she turned around to look at Peridot and she wrapped her hands around the rebellion jacket she wore. Peridot was stunned into silence as the woman slipped the jacket from her shoulders and allowed it to flutter to the ground. The vertically challenged arcanist was very confused by this and was about to interject, feeling her face flush from the gesture. She then understood why she did this as the woman turned over her shoulder and exposed her back. She wore a shirt that connected in the back in two places-- around her neck, and her ribs. It exposed her whole back, and in the center, prominently placed in between her shoulder blades was a brilliantly shining blue gem-- a Lapis Lazuli. This shocked the arcanist, and she nervously grabbed in the air for a few moments as she took this new information in. Lapis Lazulis were not commonly arcanists-- right? And yet here stood an ex-prisoner that she tried to interrogate with _shaper relics no less,_ an arcanist just like herself. Did that explain her strange connection, dare she say infatuation with the woman before her?

"You were an arcanist? Why was that never in the file I received regarding Lapis Lazulis?" Peridot asked allowed, somehow sounding both shocked and annoyed at the same time. This new knowledge only served to infuriate her, and she threw one of her arms up into the air extravagantly as she felt confusion and other emotions boiling up in her chest. "They assigned me, a Peridot, to interrogate you, another arcanist? They wanted someone who primarily interrogates someone with shaper relics to interrogate _someone else who can commune with shaper relics_?" She seethed out, her eyebrows knitting together in frustration as she began to feel the weight of the situation. "I do not understand. Did--" Her breath caught in her throat as her mind went wild, and one single infuriating thought came to mind. _Did my Diamond set me up for failure? _Her negative thought process was interrupted when there was suddenly a hand against her shoulder, and the Diamond Authority soldier lunged back at the contact. It startled her from her thoughts and she fell over, her feet unable to get a steady grip on the ground before. An _oof _escaped the Peridot and she held her hands up in front of her defensively, glaring at Lapis. The rebel had an unamused expression on her face, her lips set in a downcast frown. 

"The Diamond Authority isn't that great, now is it?" Lapis mumbled before she turned to the body of water before her. She raised her hands and closed her eyes, focused as she grew still. Meanwhile, Peridot's mind was still racing to grasp what this had all meant. She brought a hand up and brushed it through her slicked back blonde locks, causing a few loose strands to fall to the side haphazardly. Peridot was struggling to stand back on her feet, no thanks to the rebel scum that took her out here in the first place. She was hardly paying attention to the clone in question at this point-- she was overwhelmed by the sudden sense of betrayal that filled her chest. _Yellow Diamond wanted me to fail. That's why I was assigned another arcanist to interrogate. She knew. They all knew. _Her heart froze in her chest. _Did Jasper know, too?_

She felt like time had slowed down. Never before had Peridot needed a partner for interrogation, so she found the arrangement to be very unusual. However, seeing how it was an official order from the Diamonds themselves, Peridot found that any arguments had died on her tongue. She knew better than to question them-- or, she did, before this new development. Was it just her, or did time actually stop? The roaring of the waterfall seemed to die out and cease, leaving the two in silence. Her eyes moved to the smaller waterfall in the back of the scene laid out before them, and she felt her jaw drop in shock once she registered that it was no longer falling. Instead, it was held in perfect stasis, with only a few rogue drops descending into the lake below. Her eyes then shifted to the Lapis Lazuli, who had a bit of sweat beaded on her back, small droplets formed from tension it appeared. The gravity of the situation then fully set in and she stared at the newly revealed arcanist, incredulous. 

"Holy SMOKES! When did you learn how to do THAT!?" Peridot ended up shouting as she stepped back for a second time nervously, bewilderment and horror mixed uneasily on her expression. She was able to keep her footing this time around. After a few more prolonged moments of silence, an eerie feeling washing over the smaller woman, the water all dropped at once and the accelerated pace of the flowing water picked up once again. The rebel trembled as her arms dropped, and collapsed onto her knees, directly into the soft grass below. Peridot's mouth opened and closed uselessly several times before she surged forward without thinking and placed her trembling hands against the other woman's arm. She seemed to shy away from the touch, and the blonde took the hint, retracting her palm. "H-hey, are you okay? What was that? How did you do that?" Exhausted blue eyes shifted into Peridot's view, and she felt her heart stop its hard pounding for a few brief moments. The other woman was panting with exertion, sweat beaded on her hard brows and running down the side of her face. Her breaths were ragged and they came with force, as did the amusement in those powerful brilliant eyes. The blonde forced her gaze away nervously and felt heat crawling up her neck. _What is with her? I can't stand this stupid rebel. _

"I actually have you to thank for this ability, you know. Or, well, I think I do." She retorted, and her bemused tone cut through Peridot's stupor. Whatever strange mood she seemed to be in earlier was resolved, just like that. She whipped her head back to the rebel, fast enough to break it, and she wore an irritated yet unreadable expression.

"What? What's that supposed to mean? I didn't do anything for you." Came a genuinely confused, annoyed and nasally tone. Lapis only smirked at that and the smaller pilot felt an anger boil in her belly. _Cocky clod. _

"While you did not do anything for me directly relating to this, I think you indirectly did. Or, well, the Diamonds did."

"Shut up, Lazuli. I don't have the patience to sit here wasting time and interpret your stupid riddles. Just give me a straight answer." It seemed that whatever game Lapis was attempting to play needed to be cut short because Peridot's temper was rivaled only by her height. Without the prosthetics, of course.

"Sure, don't get your panties in a bunch." Peridot bristled and was visibly fuming, only bringing further amusement to the storm pilot. "It's simple. I never could control water before I was kidnapped by the Diamond Authority for treason. Then, I was interrogated by you, via shaper relics, and when the accident occurred in the base and I was freed. One of the first things I did when I was free was run back to Beach City, the cove where the whole rebellion started. I spent my time recovering and recuperating from the torture I endured, both from Jasper and from a Holly Blue Agate, and there was this huge Scar siege on the city. I did not have my Javelin, so I borrowed one of the human's and charged into combat. At some point, I got like, _royally _pissed off and the next thing I knew, it had stopped raining all around me. That's when I found out that I could control water, and I totally wrecked some stupid scars."

During their conversation, the blue-haired woman had ended up sitting down at one point or another instead of standing back up, and the interceptor pilot had followed suit. They sat together in the soft grass, the delicate strands wet with dew licking at their palms, and it had soon become very peaceful. The two had spent some time just sitting down and talking, and all thoughts of Peridot being a prisoner had completely left the minds of both parties. In this moment, all roles and all affiliations had been forgotten, and all that had been left were just two women, conversing quietly under the thousands of stars above. It was no longer Peridot, the imprisoned Diamond Authority arcanist-turned-soldier and Lapis, the Diamond Authority defector who now worked as a rebel. No, it was simply Peridot and Lapis, with their labels laid aside like weapons in a ceasefire. All tension that had hung in the air had been let loose into the vast sky above, leaving a tranquil scene that highlighted a subtle yet blooming interest.

* * *

"So.. You were a member of Blue Diamond's court?" Time was just an illusion now. Peridot and Lapis were lying down in the soft grass, two gazes set up at the beautiful night sky that lit both the surrounding environment and the two pairs of eyes greeting it. The two women were situated in such a way that their heads were next to one another's, but their bodies were pointing in opposite directions. Where Peridot's prosthetic legs pointed East, Lapis's previously heavy-booted feet pointed West. The interceptor had been nonchalantly asking questions to the other woman, who casually answered them back, and it led to a very comfortable atmosphere. Her hands were crossed over her stomach and she laced her fingers together, gently wringing them as she contemplated further questioning and the answers she received. 

"Yeah, I sure was. It's pretty crazy remembering those times. It feels like it was so long ago. I was sent on a reconnaissance mission with two other Lapis Lazulis, who were also in storm javelins. There was a huge amount of shaper relic activity near one of White Diamond's cloning facilities that threatened some pretty destructive consequences. So the three of us were sent out as a specialized team for damage control. Uh, long story short, the mission really didn't go as planned and I got separated from my team. There was so much chaos everywhere we looked, and the commotion had summoned a few ancient titans. My Javelin was pretty beat up, and I didn't want to stick around to find out if it was in good enough condition to handle those guys."

It was strange. Peridot thought about this situation, and she came to the realization that it was a very odd circumstance. They had just been at one another's throats, that insufferable woman was part of the reason that she lost both of her legs. She was so horribly vexing that Peridot had requested a reassignment, one that was granted, and that, of course, was with no ulterior motives in mind. Even with all of those events fresh on her mind, even with the knowledge of her being a prisoner, the two of them had let their guard down around one another. They were stargazing together. They were not discussing war plans, they were not arguing or fighting, they were not cooped up in an intel meeting, they were not doing anything productive-- yet here they were, and it was a very strange feeling. Peridot was not even supposed to leave the room she had been confined to, yet here she was, lying with a rebel insurgent miles away from the rebel base that held her captive. She could run free, she could contact Homeworld and let them know about Rose Quartz and all of the insurgents, she could end this petty feud right now-- and yet, she decided against it. Something in her heart told her to live in this moment, to take in the environment around her. At this moment, there was no war. There was no bloodshed, there were no runes to decipher, and there was no Jasper to whip her into shape. There was not the fear of the Diamonds, they had no influence on her heart from this distance, and for once her heart won the battle that her logical brain could not continue. 

"So what did you do? Where did you end up going?" Her question was met with a long silence. This was not terse, however, it was more contemplative than anything else. A comfortable silence was one that had ensued, and made for a delightful change of pace, as opposed to their previous meetings. After a few more long moments, Peridot turned her head to the side to look at Lapis, and her breath struggled to escape when she realized just how close they had been lying. Her stomach flipped and gave her the sensation that she had been floating, an all-new emotion igniting in her chest and spreading to her now red face. It was in that tender moment, feeling those chartreuse eyes on her, that she decided to answer. "I sent out many distress signals. Many of my solar plates were busted, I was low on fuel, and my ammunition had been almost entirely depleted from surviving in the wild. I never got any response from the Diamond Authority, so I didn't go back. I felt like a prisoner all those years like that was where I did not belong. I had a run-in with the rebellion and I was attacked on sight. The firefight didn't last too long, though, because I was running on fumes. They captured me and questioned me for weeks on end, but I was unable to provide them with any useful information. I had been out of the loop for nearly a month and they gave me a choice. Join the rebellion, or go run free. I was tired of allegiances, honestly, so I chose the option to fly free. They would give me supply drops now and again, and I appreciated the assistance that I received from them. They repaired my Javelin, and Steven snuck out all the time to come and hang out with me." She snorted a bit at the thought, and Peridot quickly decided that she enjoyed the small delighted noise that she made as she turned her eyes back to the stars above. "I didn't join them, not really, I guess I was just in cahoots with them. But uh, that's when the Diamond Authority captured me. After I broke out, I hesitantly decided to join their uprising to wipe that scum off of this planet. The Diamonds are a plague, and all of us clones wreak their havoc for them. I felt like I owed my allegiance to the rebellion after all they had done for me, and I don't regret joining." _Ah, that's what this is about._

"You know, Lazuli, your attempts to convince me to join your rebellion won't get you any farther than anyone else. What makes you think that your words would have any more weight with them than anyone else's?" The response she received was a quiet noise of shuffling, followed by more silence. Curious, the paraplegic pilot turned her gaze back to the woman next to her and her breath caught in her throat. Their faces were only inches apart, and she found herself staring into those deep blue eyes. An unfamiliar motion stirred once more in her chest, infinitely stronger than what it had been before. She felt frozen in place, and she did not dare allow her eyes to stray. She hopelessly watched as Lapis's did, however, flickering up for just a moment as if to observe her lips in only the briefest of glances. Something about this moment and the environment around them had inspired a new sense of tranquility in Peridot, and her heart was free to express the emotions that were usually filtered by her logical brain. In this particular circumstance though, she was unable to ignore those feelings. And they terrified her.

"Well, you came out here with me, didn't you?" Her voice was soft, no louder than the waterfall that roared distantly or the peaceful wildlife that existed around them. Lapis had Peridot stuck because what she said was true. The little arcanist did not have to follow Lapis, she could have left at the time, she didn't even need to leave her room. But she did all of that anyway, and it was entirely her choice. Peridot had never seen the woman so genuine before and felt her heart melt a little as she basked in this quiet silence that now fell between them. Lapis knew that Peridot did not have any real answer to this, and so the blonde simply allowed her gaze to wander back up to the stars hanging above them instead of lingering on the smirking, cocky face of the blue-haired arcanist.

"You're lucky I don't wipe that stupid look off of your face." She grumbled, but she knew that deep in her heart, she didn't mean it, not really. A soft laugh that came as a response made butterflies fill her stomach, which only increased when she felt those soft lips placed against her cheek.

"Yeah, I know, you clod."


	7. Chapter 7

"Log... One. A young human boy by the name of 'Steven Universe' has given me a small, mediocre recording device. It is nothing like the one I had built into my Javelin system and is horribly underwhelming. technologically speaking. However, it will work well for what I need, which is taking simple recordings about my day to day observations. Where to begin?

Ah. It has been forty-three days since the attempt on my life by rebel insurgents. It has been twenty-seven days since I had participated in a secret, uh, _excursion_ with a rebel soldier. She is a defected clone from the Diamond Authority, Lapis Lazuli, and that was the first time I had felt _something _like this since--" There was a brief pause. A contemplative, reminiscing silence that stretched on for several moments. "then. The- shaper Delta incident is, of course, the event I am referring to. Since that event has not been covered in my new_ somewhat_ digital log, I will give a brief synopsis of the occurrence. As a Peridot, I was in charge of communing with a shaper relic that needed to be silenced and I was responsible for shutting it down before it could cause any tears in the fabric of reality-- of course, a simple issue to resolve. I was located in a strider that hung further back from the front lines because I require total silence to do my job properly, and it usually takes all of my mental capacity to resolve the issue. The strider was attacked while I was attempting to silence the relic through the connection 8L2T's colossus granted."

* * *

_"It's halfway to completion, 8L2T. Just hold on and keep the Scars out of the vicinity." Peridot dully said and was only half paying attention to her words as she informed the soldier. The Jasper grunted her response and seemed to groan into the intercom, perhaps a question, but 2F5L was far too concentrated on the task of connecting her mind with the shaper relic to silence it. The gem embedded in her forehead glowed and she breathed out slowly, using her focus to reassemble the atomic structure of the shaper relic through Jasper's colossus. The bigger picture was pieced together, every second passing allowing her to reconnect the endings of the rampant relic, and not before long it was almost complete. All of her concentration, however, was broken when she went spiraling to the floor from her seated position on a countertop, sprawled out and slightly dazed. A panicked gasp rang through her earpiece, followed by a growl of annoyance and a considerable amount of gunfire._

_ "Runt! What the hell are you doing in there!? Get back to it, these damn bugs are annoying!" Jasper barked as an order into the comms. The arcanist pushed herself up at hearing an order directed at her, and her eyes quickly darted around to survey the condition of the room. It seemed fine, but what was that? She clambered back onto the counter and sat herself down, attempting to focus on the relic again. She could envision it, the connection between the ends, the reconstruction, and-- she could hear a soft ticking. _

_ Wait, ticking? _

_ Before she could react, a bundle of timed explosives blasted the side of the strider wide open, and the force of the event sent the arcanist back into the metal wall to her side. She slid down it once making an impact and collapsed on the ground. Her ears were ringing, her vision was unfocused and bright, but where her sight and auditory senses failed her, her feeling did not. Through her palms, she felt the metal floor of the strider jump just a bit, a sure sign of several life forms boarding the exposed transport. She winced at the searing pain in her left arm and attempted to focus on the intruders. These were not your typical Scars. Instead, it was a group of rebels, armed to the teeth and packing heat. A ranger javelin approached her first and reached down, grabbing her arm and forcing her to sit up. She flinched at the pain that was inflicted and grit her teeth, tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes at the painful grip and the weight pulling at her already injured limb. Through clenched teeth, she hissed into her comms for the soldier who was the only one capable of finishing their mission. "Jasper." She rasped, flinching as the javelins leveled their weapons at her. She could barely hear her voice. "Hack the relic, complete the mission. It needs to be silenced. I can't help anymore." She was barely able to force out, and her vision slowly came back into total focus. Sharper features were blurry to her, possibly a minor concussion, and the ringing began to die down. She heard obscene cursing into the comm system between them and the sound of the rebels screaming at her to shut up became very audible. The ranger holding her pointed back at the door, demanding the interceptor to exit through the blast hole. _

_ "You can't stop her now. The relic will be silenced by the Diamond Authority, another step closer to controlling the An-" Her words were suddenly cut off as a powerful metal hand backhanded her across the face. The force caused black to creep into her vision and her ears to ring, and there was an unsettling crunch in her mouth. Her face paled considerably and she tasted blood on her lips and felt a few loose pieces of something unidentified tumbling against her tongue. She spat to the side and took note of the blood, and of course the aforementioned pieces. Broken teeth. Of course. _

_ "Shut up, bitch. Pretty soon you're going to be-" The male voice was suddenly silenced as a second massive explosion erupted outside. Peridot could hear the distant sound of screams, unfamiliar with the voices but she could identify the fear to be found in them. She was dropped and barely caught herself on her forearms, pain searing in her head and her left arm. The man leveled his rifle at the door and watched in what Peridot presumed to be horror as a towering Javelin forced its way into the strider. Standing at fourteen feet tall was a colossus Javelin. The paint job was primarily orange, with black highlights and several black stripes running against it. The Diamond Authority insignia was boasted against each massive knee cover and a Yellow Diamond plate stood out against the black around it on its stomach. Peridot's eyes lit up with wonder and bewilderment as she recognized this to be Jasper. The colossus standing before them had sustained a considerable amount of damage and suffered severe burns and bullet holes scattered about the armor. In one massive arm was a tower shield, and that had taken the brunt of the attack. The helmet tucked away between hulking broad shoulders was cracked, and through the visor, the face of the pilot could be seen. Those violent, enraged apricot eyes connected with her chartreuse green and they suddenly softened upon seeing her face. A strange emotion that Peridot was completely unfamiliar with seized up in her chest and her breath caught in her through. _

_ Jasper compromised the mission. Jasper is willing to fail the mission, she completely disregarded my orders, just for--_

_ The man in the Javelin adjacent to her suddenly let out a battle cry and opened fire on the towering Homeworld soldier, who was quick to raise her shield and allowed a new rage to spark to life in those brilliant eyes. She cried out as she charged him, shield raised and used it as an effective weapon. The loud crunch of metal rang out through the damaged strider as 8L2T used her shield to bash the man to the side. The ranger pilot lost his footing and his weapon went spiraling out of his hands upon impact, and he was sent into one of the walls. The rebel shot a terrified look at Jasper, able to be seen through his partially open visor, and it only seemed to grow worse as the massive woman grinned_. _A sick, sadistic look that was fueled by his fear. She fed off of it, and he used the opportunity to tear the shield from her hands. The massive handle of the defensive piece slipped out easily from the heavily armored palms of the exo-suit and no attempt was made to reclaim it. Fear and confusion bloomed in the man's visible face and he faltered. His slow movement was the only chance Jasper needed. She surged forward and wrapped both powered hands around his body- one around his head, the other around his torso, and she turned her shoulders sharply, sending both hands firing in opposite lateral directions._

_ A sickening snap was heard, and as soon as those gargantuan hands left the ranger javelin, it crumbled onto the ground uselessly. Peridot didn't have much time to dwell on her partner snapping that rebel's neck, because her aforementioned escort was right in front of her again. Those massive hands that had just committed a harsh, vile crime slipped beneath her. Those hands, who killed a man in one snap, who fired a chain gun that claimed countless lives, who ripped through solid steel like it was wet paper, were now oh so gently lifting her. She was in a bridal carry in those powerful arms, and her dazed eyes wandered to the clone's face as soon as her face mask retracted. Their eyes connected again, this time at a much closer distance, and Peridot could see them brimming with concern and devastation. It was so unusual to see such a look on an indomitable soldier, but here she was. _

_ "Peridot. Little Green? Are you okay? You look like shit. I've got you, you're gonna be okay." She muttered in a voice full of worry, and it sent the little blonde's head spiraling. Perhaps it was the concussion. Though it would not describe why 8L2T, the perfect specimen of a Jasper clone, would dare step out of line just to save her. Perhaps she wasn't as cold as she initially thought._

_ "Jasper," Peridot rasped and addressed her by her name, dropping the designation that she had always addressed her by. "What about the mission? You should have left me to die." The truth was tragic, it was sad but realistic. The mission was always more important than the life of a clone. The response of the other woman was an unexpected crack of a smile, accompanied by a very soft smile that she never would have expected in a million years. Not from anybody, and especially not from Jasper._

_ "I didn't feel like losing my favorite arcanist today. C'mon, we'll get you back, you'll be okay." She reassured her field partner and was quick to exit the swiftly collapsing Strider and take off towards the stretching sky above._

* * *

"Needless to say... I was compromised and Jasper--" She cleared her throat for a moment, and was quick to correct herself. Slipping up like that was not good. "8L2T, almost jeopardized our mission. She took us to the relic, had cleared the area using her mortar shot that is built into the armor and used primarily for emergencies. I communed with the relic directly instead of staying in a strider a mile or so out, and our objective was completed. The... lack of hesitance in which 8L2T demonstrated her heroic action just to save my life was concerning at the time. I had not understood what this meant at the time, but I understand now. This enamored emotion I feel towards Lapis has occurred once before, towards 8L2T. This is interesting, considering that Lapis Lazuli attempted my life, only to save it afterward. Perhaps this was an order? My infatuation with 8L2T came from her saving my life recklessly and expressing a deep physical interest in me. Those-- fleeting touches, her pestering in the arcanists library, what makes this the same feeling?"

A groan escaped the arcanist and she ran a hand down her face, an exasperated action as she felt the mental conflict giving her a headache. "Lazuli is nothing like her. 8L2T and I had a completely inappropriate relationship, I could have been killed for my daring intimate actions with my escort. Our mutual attraction sprouted from a lot of time spent together. I was only so defensive when she... attempted to initiate copulation with me in front of prying eyes. She had simply done this out of arousal she experienced from torturing Lazuli." She suddenly felt an uncomfortable swell in her chest. One that burned, and it caused her teeth to grit together. Talking about that now caused discomfort in her chest and unexplained anger to bloom. She was unsure of where the anger was directed at this moment-- perhaps at the Diamonds for providing her with insufficient information, not nearly enough to properly address the situation of torturing another arcanist with a shaper relic? Or, dare she say, was it directed at Jasper? _No, of course not. She was doing her job, she... was doing what needed to be done, to extract information. Why am I upset that she felt arousal upon making her scream and cry in pain? These feelings are far too complex for me to want to put much thought into. I can already feel another headache coming on._

"That aside, I have decided, for now, to compromise and create a truce between myself and the _Crystal Clods. _Nyeheheh, what a clever insult. But I digress. In this truce, I have begun to rebuild my javelin, and have been granted access to the hanger between restricted hours. My "cell" has been relocated, and it's even worse than what I had before. The mattress is _disgustingly _plush and it traps me in it any time I sit down. And to make matters even worse, the room is_ carpeted. _Steven insisted that I have a 'real room', whatever that means, and seems to be happy with the deathtrap I was relocated into. I have began to meet other gems that have defected, as well as the humans that plague this facility. I.. have abandoned most of my hope of the DIamond Authority ever finding me again." It was an awkward, brief pause, but she did not remain idle for long. "Peridot, designation 2F5L. End log." _Click. _

Tired green eyes gazed up at the ceiling, the recorder in her left hand falling softly against the carpet. She had never experienced such a well-endowed bed, which was decorated with more than one pillow and a plush cotton bed set. It disturbed her to sleep on something so embracing, so she had been opting to sleep on the carpeted floor instead. It was still very early in the morning, her body set on an internal clock to force her away at five-thirty every morning. There was no use of being up that early in the rebellion because all of the prominent faces she recognized were never awake at that time. How disorganized. Her prosthetic feet shuffled mindlessly against the carpet, generating the barest amount of friction before her abdomen tightened and she sat up using only the taut muscles of her toned stomach. She rubbed at her left eye with her right hand and yawned, deciding that now would be the best time to arise. Tossing a glance to her recorder, a gift from the boy who visited her often, she carefully scooped it up and rose to her feet. Her faux legs carried her to the nightstand located next to her bed and she carefully set it there, before smoothing her crumpled white shirt out. _Time to get some real work done for now._

* * *

"No, that does not go there. _Obviously _the hydraulic column goes in the joint of the leg between the swoop back and the artificial patella! It's _digitigrade, _Pearl, as is your own!"

"To allow for proper crouching, it needs to be in the _front_, Peridot, otherwise the friction will prevent smooth movement! Agility on the field for the interceptor sits at _top _priority, but the ability to cover is also advised!"

"What do _you _know? The location of the hydraulic is imperative for speed, it doesn't matter if it can crouch lower-- if you're piloting an interceptor, then the speed is what you rely on-- not cowering behind a cloddy scrap of cover! Additionally, the low height in which you strive to achieve will only hinder movement and brings about an increased risk of injury to the user's legs because of the forward fashioning!"

As predicted, Pearl and Peridot had been butting heads for two weeks; ever since Peridot had been allowed access to the hangar to repair her heavily damaged Javelin. The state of it had left her devastated, but she worked tirelessly to mend the seemingly irreparable damage. It was no easy task, but she was determined. The only other face she ever expected to see so early in the morning was, of course, Pearl, another interceptor pilot who performed routine checks and cleanings of her pearlescent and rose gold Javelin. Although they had argued endlessly and Peridot swore up and down that she hated that woman with a passion, she knew that the two of them bickering and nitpicking each other's armor had given them both insight into what they could improve on their suits. Deep in her heart, she appreciated Pearl and her very wise comments and suggestions-- yet her abrasive self would never admit that first.

Pearl threw her hands up, a wrench in the left and a rag in the right, and she dropped the metal tool with an audible clang. "You don't have to worry about injuring your legs any more than they already have been, so what does that matter to you?" Her mocking, high-pitched voice argued, and the short amputee fumed. She stormed up to Pearl and shoved an accusing finger directly between her breasts, giving her the dirtiest look she could muster. She sneered and spoke with venom on her tongue.

"I'll show you what injured legs look like, you _clod_-"

"Pearl, we need to make our rounds! Come here darling, we need to go!" A voice interrupted the two that had been preparing to tear one another apart. Lime green and electric blue eyes both slid over to make contact with magenta-pink-- the gaze of Rose Quartz. She wore a weary smile, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at them in a hopeless, teasing sort of manner. Her expression bordered on amused and chiding, and akin to a pair of siblings, Pearl and Peridot looked away at the same time. The taller of the two smirked at Peridot and tilted her head up in a dignified manner, and turned her nose in a snide way as she side-eyed the paraplegic. The arcanist in response to this stuck her tongue out-- childish as it was, it did the job of turning Pearl's expression from snarky to pissed off. It was the shorter woman's turn to smirk now and she turned over her shoulder, looking back to her javelin. The rebellion leader and her right-hand woman disappeared, leaving the Diamond Authority soldier to turn her attention back to the suit she still needed to repair.

"Stupid Pearl, what does she even know anyways? For being a servant for most of her life, she _sure does have a mouth on her--_"

"She's not as bad as you make her out to be." The sudden intrusion of another voice gave Peridot a start, and she whipped around like a dagger to glare at the newcomer. This woman had a holographic chart floating in front of her and stood in a very pointed, professional position. This woman had Carolina blue hair that was combed in such a manner that caused it to swoop forward and sit above her elongated, round face. Her shoulders were tucked back in an official stance and she dismissed the chart floating before her with an unceremonious wave of her hand. For being a rebel soldier, she had been dressed to impress, wearing the nicest pair of clothes that would come close to a tuxedo. The royal blues that adorned the suit matched the single monocle placed her right eye, causing her Maya blue eyes to be slightly off. The lenses opacity had to be a mere twenty percent at most, as to not distort the colors of the world around her. 

"Well, at least you are a company that I can tolerate. What is it today, Blue Zircon?" The little arcanist breathed out, her nasally voice filled with irritation as her gaze drifted to the Javelin she seemed so intent on repairing. Her annoyed tone had the Blue Zircon's lips working upward in a snide smirk. She wiped it from her face before Peridot could have spared a glance back.

"I couldn't help but overhear yet another disagreement between you and Pearl. Had Rose not separated the two of you, I was on standby to do so myself." She declared nonchalantly and tucked a hand against the lapel of her blue coat in a dignified manner. The confident look on her face shifted to a deadpan when Peridot snorted. A look of irritation soon graced her features and she offered a disapproving look to the amputee. "What? Why did you make that noise?" A dismissive hand only served to deepen the frown that ceased her lips into a downward position.

"Oh, nothing." She lied exaggeratedly, obviously wanting Zircon to push from the snarky tone that she addressed her with. The rebel knew the game that she was playing and still decided to play along. Whether it was because she wanted to outsmart her or if it did aggravate the specialist remained to be seen.

"Was there something that you found entertaining, Peridot?" Came the snooty reply from the taller woman. The arcanist in question stopped her work and tossed an exasperated look over her shoulder, only to catch the other woman staring down at her, long nose pointed at some angle that was definitely above parallel. Another quiet noise of disapproval escaped the arcanist and she turned back to her work, finding that more interesting than the defected clone at her back. She did, however, aim a response at her.

"There _is _something that I found to be entertaining. You, a Zircon, would have attempted to defuse a situation that would have devolved into nothing more than meaningless banter, simply out of sheer boredom and a reluctance to leave so early in the morning to perform a diplomatic mission." Peridot quipped, her right hand adjusting the socket wrench in her left before she continued her work. Her right hand held a plate against the leg of her Javelin as she fastened a bolt in, her attention divided between her work and the rebel insurgent behind her. Blue Zircon lost her cool for a moment as she fumed at that, composure shattering, and she stepped forward with an audible stop.

"I cannot believe that you have the audacity to suggest that to me! I would _never _attempt to distract myself to get out of work!" She exclaimed and stepped forward, swiping a hand defensively to her side and giving Peridot's shoulder a light push. At the contact, she glared back at the offending woman and rose on her prosthetic feet, shoving her wrench against Zircon's chest in an accusing gesture.

"You want to try that again, _punk_?" She hissed out, staring up at the rebel soldier with ferocity in her gaze. They stared one another down for a long moment, the tension in the air between them so thick it could be cut with a knife. They seethed at one another for a long moment, the fuming specialist glaring at the technician who returned the look. They held that for a long time, seeing who would back down first. The hangar was silent, and the only two occupants were Peridot and Blue Zircon. After what felt like an eternity of glaring down one another, the two women suddenly start to laugh. The arcanist shoved the diplomat playfully, who just laughed a little harder as she took a step back. Their whole argument and banter was simply a show of bravado. 

"Stars, Peridot, you are one good actor." Blue Zircon chuckled and patted the amputee's shoulder in a friendly manner. The small blonde snorted and swiped at her eye, dismissing any tears that threatened to form from laughter. In her time at the rebel base, Peridot had gotten rather close with two former members of Blue Diamond's court. The first, being Lapis Lazuli, and the second being Blue Zircon. The two had clicked after their first meeting in the medical bay, and while Peridot asked questions about the rebellion, Zircon asked questions about the newest additions to the judicial category post Anthem in the Diamond Authority. The arcanist found herself enjoying the other woman's company when she was at the base, which had not been too terribly often, unfortunately. Steven often commented on how close Peridot seemed with her and expressed his joy in her quest for companionship.

"Haa, you're skills seem to fall into every category, Zircon. What I find the most enjoyable is how you somehow stay so calm and collected in a court setting-- yet when I accuse you of stalling for time, you become entertainingly flustered." The paraplegic joked and turned around, taking a seat on the lukewarm metal platform that her Javelin was supported against and resumed her tinkering with the plate from before. A scoff escaped the defense attorney equivalent and ended up taking a seat next to the smaller woman. Peridot decidedly enjoyed her company and therefore did not shoo away the other interceptor pilot. The law-enforcer may have been a pilot for a similar suit to both Peridot's and Pearl's, but she was no technician or engineer. Her strong suit lied in defensive court systems, reconnaissance, and diplomacy. Her charisma in serious social situations was startlingly perfect and flawless. She was so good that she had been a very prominent member on Blue Diamond's court, and was the most reliable law-related individual when concerning Blue Diamond's ranks. _It's a shame that her good name has been defaced by the rest of the Diamond Authority for betraying Pink Diamond. If the Authority knew that she was here, as well as the Pearl who carried out the betrayal, all of Homeworld would invade and wipe this base off of the face of this planetside. _She was startled out of her thoughts when the woman in question came back with a retort.

"I may falter in banter outside of an official setting, but my skills would not fail me otherwise. So that's enough from you, thank you." She emphasized with a pointed look and allowed her holographic clipboard to be displayed once more. The arcanist stole a glance at her and smirked just a bit, but did not reply. The two ex-Homeworld soldiers sat in silence as they worked on their respective projects, back to back, and allowed the comfortable atmosphere to fall over them. She placed the hydraulic strut against the joint of the leg, a concentrated and bored look on her expression, but stopped before she set it in place. She thought for a long moment, green eyes darting across the digitigrade leg of her Javelin, her conflicted irises searching for an answer. She paused for a long moment, before allowing the item in question to drift down lower, and she placed it in the front. She stared at the object, searching for a confirmation to an unspoken question, before setting it into place-- the location suggested by the rebel from before, one she had been adamant about refusing. _I suppose she is good for something after all._


	8. Chapter 8

_ The hangar was very lively when Peridot clambered out of her Javelin. Her heart was pumping in her chest, and her limbs screamed at her in exhaustion as her prosthetic feet had finally touched the ground. The little blonde was wearing her Diamond Authority skintight flight suit, the same one she had crashed in so many weeks ago and was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Using the back of her hand, she swiped her forehead and barely had a moment to think before several rebels were surrounding her. _

_ "Peridot!" Garnet gleefully greeted as she pushed her way through the other members who were standing about, chatting indistinctly among all of the noise. The short blonde looked up at the curvy woman of color approaching and beamed at her, bashfully rubbing the back of her head. "I had no idea that an arcanist could be such a good pilot out there on the field. The way that you handled that ancient titan was phenomenal. Good work." Garnet exclaimed as she shook Peridot's shoulder. The tiny pilot laughed with a wide grin and her eyes, filled with childlike wonder upon receiving the praise, face lit up with joy. _

_ "Thank you, Garnet, it was nothing really--"_

_ "Peridot, your performance today was exceptional!" A higher-pitched and excited voice cut her off, and suddenly Pearl had shouldered her way to the front. She clapped her hands with vigor a few times and gave the paraplegic pilot an ecstatic expression. "You're a much better interceptor pilot than I had initially expected. I am thoroughly impressed by your knowledge of the interceptors--"_

_ "Hey, I'm stealing this." A new voice interrupted Pearl, but this one was from behind the small pilot. A pair of lithe, toned arms wrapped around her core and lifted her into the air, causing a yelp to escape the blonde who had been receiving so much praise. She struggled against the arms that enveloped her torso and carried her off, her faux legs kicking uselessly._

_ "What gives?! Release me this instant!" Peridot yelled as she pushed at the arms, and threw one of her prosthetic feet back into the legs of the offending rebel. The woman's grip had faltered but did not let up entirely as she carried her just a bit farther, tossing her down on some crates in the shipping yard. Peridot hit the crate and glared up at her malefactor. "Why did you pull me away from that? I was getting showered in--" She suddenly cut herself off as she stared at the amused face of her captor. Those unnaturally deep blue eyes enraptured her attention, and her jaw dropped to sit ajar from its prior location. Before she knew what was happening, Lapis Lazuli was suddenly in her lap, with muscular thighs on either side of her waist. The little blonde shrunk back and made a noise of discomfort, her pale cheeks instantly flushing to a deep shade of red. She stammered uselessly and her hands flailed a bit, unsure of where to go now that Lapis was so close. Her heart leaped into her throat and she attempted to lean back. "W-wait, Lapis, what are you doing?" She squawked, her eyes bulging as Lapis grabbed her wrists with one hand and pinned them against her lap. She batted her lashed in a very enticing manner and the interceptor pilot felt a shameful heat beginning to brew in her lower stomach. Lapis leaned in close, their lips mere inches apart, and her enthralling deep ocean eyes flickered to meet chartreuse._

_ "Your face is a little red. You're so cute. Is there a reason for that?" Came a sultry tone, amusement lacing her words as she teased Peridot. The blonde swallowed audibly and attempted to retort, but her flustered mind could not come up with anything remotely useful. Lapis's body heat enveloped her waist and her thighs, where it ended part of the way down. The rebel insurgent was taller and heavier than her, but she suspected it wasn't by much. With the way she was seated, it was easy to see the rolling muscles of her abs peeking out from the bottom of her taut rebellion suit top. The arcanist felt her mouth go dry as she took in everything that she could see from this angle. Her impressive musculature, those cut shoulders, sharp collarbones, deep blue hair with those matching ocean eyes, and those incapacitating irresistibly plump lips. Her breathing trembled as it escaped her lips, and she had to suck in a sharp gasp when a particularly enticing pair of slim, saucy hips moved sensually against her own. "My little interceptor, you were so good out there today. I think you deserve a reward." The praise caused her heart to hammer impossibly hard in her chest-- her fear it might burst from how hard it hit was drowned out completely by arousal. Every single place the rebel's fingertips had touched caused electricity to spark across her skin, a sensation that she had not experienced before. Hot shame boiled deep in her stomach, a natural response to those burning touches her dexterous digits left along her skin, and a soft groan escaped small pilot._

_ "What are you doing to me?" She whispered, a tone so soft it barely escaped, and she felt enraptured utterly by the seductress who was on her lap. Before she had time to think, all gears in her head came to a crashing stop as those lips she been guilty of gazing at shamefully came ever closer to her own. Her head swirled, she felt a hand pushing down at her uniform, her hot breath against her lips. "W-wait, Lapis, Lap--"_

"Lapis!" Peridot fell out of her bed as she was suddenly jolted awake, her whole body trembling from what has just happened. _Oh, my stars. It's just a dream. It's a dream, it's nothing more. _Peridot let out an audible groan as she rolled onto her side. A noise laced with discomfort and annoyance was muffled against the carpeting that her face was pressed against, and the implants against her stubs where the prosthetic legs were usually bound brushed uselessly against the floor. She pulled her face out of the black carpet and she licked her dry lips, wetting them ever so slightly from her previous fit of cottonmouth. She felt her pale, freckled cheeks burning in shame and a disgruntled noise escaped her. The pilot slowly sat herself up and pressed her palms hard against her eyelids, massaging in small circles to dismiss the image her brain produced. Her clumsy left hand stretched up to the small, bare nightstand and retrieved the metal and plastic device off of the top after a few fruitless pats ensued, and she soon brought the recorder to her lips. With an unsteady inhale, she began.

"Log 41... It is currently," She rasped out, turning her disoriented eyes to the clock on her wall. It was digital, displaying a few numbers against the digital clock. She squinted her chartreuse eyes before the answer escaped her lips. "04:17 in the morning." She took a moment to rub her right eye, an attempt to dismiss the tiredness that burdened her. With her hand so close to her cheek, she could feel the heat radiating off of it in waves, a sure sign of her shame. She licked her lips again quietly, attempting to revitalize the cracked and lightly chapped pair. "I had another humiliating dream. The main cause of my embarrassment was the Lapis Lazuli clone who, in my dream, seemed very _hungry_. This has been occurring for approximately two weeks, and the intimacy in these dreams only seems to increase as more time passes. I have not seen Lapis in..." She trailed off all of a sudden, as any concept of time seemed to slip through her fingers. A number had come to mind, _but had it been that long?_ "She left seventeen days ago. Today marks eighteen. Her expertise was required out on the field, at another establishing rebel base site." Peridot's voice was thick with sleep, but she seemed to be shaking it off slowly but surely as her log carried on. She knew that Lapis had to go, and her desire to have the clone nearby would be entirely ignored because as far as the rebellion was concerned, she had not yet been a confirmed member. She was still treated poorly by the humans and outright ignored by Amethyst and several other clones as well. "I have not heard any word back for eight days. Eight days, there has been radio silence, and I can only assume that the mission has gone... South. Perhaps we should begin to look at opportunities to--"

An alarm blaring over the sound system attached to her room startled the blonde, and she threw the tape recorder as a first reaction. A loud curse escaped her as soon as it left her palm, and she scrambled to snatch it out of the air. Too slow. Any tiredness that plagued her before was gone now, and she moved so that she could sit up completely. Her limb enhancers were placed against the bed, and she dragged the digitigrade carbon legs over to her implanted stumps. As she was struggling to engage them in the dark, her door being thrown open over the sound of the screeching alarm caused her attention to snap up. Standing before Peridot was a suit of pearlescent white and brass armor, the blue highlights defining the hard slopes of the intricate Interceptor before her. The faceplate was disengaged and the worried yet determined familiar face greeted the tiny soldier. "Pearl? What are you--"

"Suit up." The amputee's eyes all but bulged out of her head at that demand. She brought her hands away from her now connected faux limbs and stuttered a few times, struggling to formulate an actual response. She wasn't expecting anyone to come barging into her room, much less Pearl who was donned in a full suite of Interceptor armor.

"Pearl, I-- my suit, it's still experimental! Not only that but without real legs, how am I supposed to--" It seemed that the blonde could not catch a break. All of her arguments seemed to be severed the moment that Pearl interrupted again. Usually, she would have been rather disgruntled and agitated upon being interrupted, especially when she was trying to prove an important point and the fact that it was the one rebel she disagreed with more than anyone else. However, the severity of the situation was sobering from the way that the other woman spoke and behaved at this moment.

"We received an urgent distress call from another rebellion base. It was from Garnet, and-" Peridot was up in a second. Her expression was suddenly very somber, very dark. She understood without the need for Pearl to finish her sentence.

"Lapis." She murmured, and moved over to where her tape was discarded. She lifted it and continued in her flat voice. "Peridot, designation 2F5L. End log." An audible clatter resonated throughout the small room as she tossed the recorder away without any care for the device, and it bounced against the nightstand positioned near her bed. She turned her determined eyes to the other pilot, grabbing her visors and placing them over her face. With her vision now corrected, she turned her hard gaze to the Pearl of Pink Diamond. "What are we waiting for?" Peridot did not wait for a response; it was merely a rhetorical question. She mumbled under her breath as she shouldered past the seven-foot-tall suit of armor, the other woman engaging the faceplate of her Javelin and turning to follow the paraplegic as she took lead. She did not care to dress in a proper flight suit when she read into the seriousness of the situation. It was not detrimental to her at the moment, so a plain white sleep shirt and a pair of loose-fitting black joggers would have to suffice.

The trek there did not take much time at all, as Peridot's pace was accelerated due to hearing the reason for Pearl's intrusion. The alarm was still going off in one section of the rebel base, but its droning faded as they made their way into the launch bay. It was dimly lit, and standing on an elevated platform in the far-left corner was her Javelin. Her Interceptor. The white, black and green designs enraptured her gaze, and she felt her breath catch in her throat. This was it, the moment of truth. Although her first few steps were hesitant, she started to pick up the pace and was soon sprinting towards the enchanting suit of armor she had longed to pilot once more. It had been a long time since she was allowed to enter it, and all of her anticipations had led to this moment. Anxiously, her steps slowed when she ascended the platform that jutted from the launch bay concrete floor, and she soon stood before her greatest engineering feat. 

A small, pale hand hesitantly moved forward to brush the green ridged chest of the Javelin, her face reflected at her through the smooth, shiny white faceplate of her armor. She could already envision the eyes of the lithe beast flaring up as she brought it to life, and electricity danced through her fingertips as it made contact. Her eyes scanned over the repaired suit, taking note of the welds she created, the replacements she made, the modifications she installed, and the areas that she restored. The most notable repairs she made had been to the lower half. During the accident that haunted her nightmares and caused phantom pains to spark at the worst times, the lower half of her Javelin had been all but demolished. She was proud of the work she had done on them and felt a strong sense of pride and individuality when they were finally completed. She had help, and she took a lot of Pearl's suggestions into account when rebuilding the suit of armor she piloted frequently when under the watchful eyes of the Diamond Authority. The digitigrade legs of her Javelin were lacquered solid black, with the insignia of a pink rose on the left thigh and a yellow star on the right. The yellow diamond that was against her chest was covered up by a yellow star instead, obviously done with paint instead of the default embossing that would have been performed for a military force. The replaced legs were not as top of the line as they had been previously, but according to her calculations, they should still walk, sprint and fly just fine. They were permanently affixed in a tiptoe position, similar to that of a skilled dancer to emphasize its agility and grace on the battlefield. The blonde reminisced for just a moment longer over the sleek suit of armor that was positioned before her, moving only when she decided that it was showtime. She sidestepped her Javelin and the back expectantly opened to her, the familiar hiss filling her with a sense of euphoria and giving her all the more reason to pursue the call. Instinct kicked in and her muscle memory took over, although sliding her prosthetic legs into the full-body cockpit was a strange experience. The soft refined leather and heavy padding of the interior slotted against her body in all the right ways. It was cool to the touch and her plain white t-shirt rode up on her stomach and back. The way that the soft, cool material pressed against her bare skin gave her a sense of completeness, and she picked up on her elevated heart rate. She felt the location of her legs become compressed in the shins of her Javelin and they locked into place, followed by the compression of her arms and her torso. A loud hiss of hydraulics released the armor as it fastened around her, and the HUD of her helmet burst to life. 

_ **System start-up sequence initiated . . .** _

_ **Linking separate visor.** _

_ **. . .** _

_ **Visor connected. HUD status: Active.** _

_ **Navigation system status: Active.** _

** _Javelin [ Interceptor Class 5XG Model ] exo-suit integrity: operation at 99% efficiency._ **

** _After-burners [ Functional ] : operation at 96% efficiency._ **

** _Exo-suit forearm jointed operation: [ Operable ]._ **

** _Exo-suit digitigrade leg operation: [ Operable ] Components unidentifiable. Foreign tech detected._ **

** _[ ! ] Lower half compromised. Activating sealent . . ._ **

** _Replacements identified. Status: [ Cleared ] for operation._ **

** _Fuel Reserves at [ 100 ] percent. _ **

** _Occupant vitals identified: [ Stable ] Optimal levels detected._ **

** _Ballistic outer shield status: [ Active ] Capacity at 100%._ **

All of the familiar system notifications were flashing across her screen, the connected visor of her HUD in her helmet, and it evoked strong feelings of sweet nostalgia. It had been far too long since she had last placed herself into her custom suit. The way that her heart fluttered in her chest was a sure sign of need, and she took a deep inhale to fill her chest cavity, steadying her breathing. Her faceplate disengaged and shot up, the hydraulics hissing when a reinforced finger passed against the jaw of the helmet. Sharp green eyes darted to Pearl and she breathed out calmly, listening to how the heavy bisected toes of the armored legs scraped against the metal below. She flexed her fingers and rapidly approached a workbench that was nearby, stocked with several marksmen and sniper rifles alike. She reached for a high-caliber rifle but stopped herself upon seeing a deadly close-range weapon. A shotgun that fired slugs, that would be particularly devastating versus whatever foreign force they were up against. She sucked a hesitant breath in before those dexterous hands darted forward to pick up two different kinds of weapons. The maglock against the barrel of the shotgun engaged with the polarizer on her back and acted as a sling of sorts for the weapon. The same lock engaged with the marksmen rifle she placed against her right hip, and she turned dark eyes to her companion before they became hidden behind an intimidating Damascus steel faceplate. "What are we waiting for? We're all the backup they need for now."

* * *

The mountain had swelled considerably yet did not do much to shadow the base. Two of the moons hung low in the sky above, being overwhelmed by bright yellows and oranges forcing their way up from the East. Night had been steadily bleeding out as the two most versatile Javelins made their way to a recent project of the seemingly ambitious Crystal Gems Rebellion. The sun clawing its way up into the sky outlined the dilapidated structures that stood proudly before and made the smoke rising from various areas of the construction zone apparent to anyone looking past the mountain. 

The base was in shambles. A gasp of shock escaped Pearl when the two Interceptors had finally arrived at the anticipated devastation that was once a newer established base. Any hopes of that were crushed the moment that the pair laid eyes upon the crumbling structures and the Rebellion Javelins scattered about, their pilots not moving in their incapacitated exo-suits. Peridot gritted her teeth together and felt her jaw ache from the strength that she was using to perform this action. Chartreuse eyes surveyed the damage and multiple distress signals that were on her screen were no longer marked as urgent by her systems. This meant that the pilots that had been struggling to stay alive were deceased, or that their suits malfunctioned so heavily from the damage that the systems ruptured and could no longer properly read occupant vitals. Distress signals were either refreshing or disappearing, or their status had been dropped to less urgent. Needless to say, it had made her visor very busy and it was irritating to focus on all of these new notifications and Pearl's voice grating in her ear over the comm system.

"Peridot, I am going to investigate the area around the base with my sniper. With your obvious preferred weapon, you should take the interior of the base and keep to the tight corridors until I give the all-clear. Be wary; a Titan is lurking around here and it may or may not still be in the vicinity. Keep in contact, but I am requesting radio silence for the-"

"Sake of discreetness, yes, I am well aware. You are not the only ex-Diamond Authority soldier present, Pearl." Peridot's sarcastic yet distracted voice cut in, and this caused the taller woman's lips to twitch in irritation. Not that Peridot could have seen that simple gesture from their growing distance and relative isolation as they automatically moved once plans were set. They were not foolproof by any means, but it had been a better move than waiting around and thoroughly thinking out what to do. Peridot's Javelin touched down against the ground relatively softly, at least compared to the noise that the other models of Javelins would make, and she quickly looked over some of the disabled Javelins. A sickening amount of Rebels, some dismembered, others in one piece but indubitably deceased if the large stains of crimson pooling beneath them were anything to go off of. She swallowed a wince and stepped around them. Her thought process was interrupted by another distress signal that suddenly popped into the vision of her HUD, and it was a very familiar combination.

** _[ ! ] Incoming Distress Signal received. Suit identification Javelin [ Colossus Class 2AR Model ] Coordinates determined. _ **

Peridot felt her breath catch in her throat at this sudden intrusion across her screen. All of the Rebellion Javelins had either been unregistered, therefore coming up as UNREGISTERED. The only exceptions were Diamond Authority Javelins that were in use by rebels, and those Javelins came up as REDACTED. There was something sickeningly familiar about the digits that flashed across her screen, and when it had finally clicked, she felt the bile rise in her throat.

** _Selecting best route . . ._ **

_8L2T. It's Jasper. Why here? Why now?_

"Peridot, do you hear me? Are you inside yet?" Pearl's voice had cut into her moment of isolation and she choked back her nausea. Rather than responding that she was not, the versatile soldier pushed her way past one of the mostly collapsed thresholds, slipping past the malfunctioning blast doors, and quietly responded. 

"What happened to radio silence? Yes, I am inside. Pearl, do not let your guard down. There could be Diamond Authority soldiers around. Some of the distress signals were sent out by their registered Javelins, and that includes one of their generals."

"Be advised, Peridot, I saw movement inside the Western-most wing of the facility. I cannot discern what their affiliation is from my fly-by." Peridot did not respond, instead opting to flip the shotgun off of her back to grasp it firmly. She stalked forward carefully through the devastated hallway of the previously operational Rebellion base and came across another Javelin. This was a particularly unsettling sight, as it had been a Diamond Authority Quartz Colossus. Luckily for her, the occupant was still inside and no vital signs were detected. Even with this reassurance, she was not sure what else could be inside of here. Dirty destroyed marble cracked audibly below the armored toes of the Interceptor as she carefully made her way forward, engaging the flashlight on her right shoulder and the barrel of her shotgun as she made her way deeper into the dark base. There was less exterior damage the further that she got inside, which obscured the rays of light that had been pouring in before. The base felt eerie and set her whole body on edge as she continued through cautiously, always on her toes-- literally.

A small part of her regretted the radio silence, for Pearl's annoying voice would be one of the few staples she could have in the terse atmosphere. The arcanist entered a launch bay-turned-communications array cautiously, side-stepping the rubble that would compromise her position. This was around four levels tall, and she felt a little move vulnerable in this area. As soon as she had entered, the first few most notable things had been the disturbing flashing of malfunctioning lights around the room, as well as a mostly muted droning noise of a busted alarm system. A moan from the room caused her to tense up, and discomfort settled in her chest. To bring some comfort, she cocked the slug-firing shotgun and breathed out, moving towards another notable detail. There were around seven rebellion ranger-variant Javelins lying all near one another, where the noise had escaped from. Ever careful, the green eyes soldier crept over and stepped around the bodies scattered across the floor, the wet splash accompanying her tiptoeing coming from the sickening pool of crimson soaking this area. She paused and listened carefully again, hearing the quiet groan much closer this time. She found the source of this and winced upon seeing the condition of this Javelin. Both arms of the suit had been torn off, and one of the rebel's human arms hung out from the exo-suit. The other arm was probably still located in the other removed arm, wherever that could have been. Peridot knelt to the Javelin and pried the faceplate up, and was startled to see the face behind it. It was a younger man, an older teenager at very best, whose white hair was disheveled and uncontained. His pilot suit was a stark orange, stained by red along the entire left side where there had been obvious cauterization. This was a man that Peridot had recognized, but his name did not come to mind. He groaned in pain and opened his eyes, looking up at the soldier that had jimmied him ever so slightly.

"Wh.. aahht..? Are you, a... Rebel?" He questioned weakly. He sputtered slightly after he spoke, coughing up a small amount of blood. Peridot nodded and surveyed his suit, trying to decide what the best course of action could be. She could either transport him in his suit, which would slow them down, but protect him from straying dangers-- or she could pry it off. That could make him vulnerable, though, and she was unsure of how much more damage he could take before he gave in. "Oh, there really is a deity, huh? I'm... I'm in really bad shape, man." She swallowed audibly when he chuckled painfully and had to bite back a retort. 

"Hang on. I'm going to get you out of here, okay? Are there any other survivors that you are aware of?" Peridot responded rather stoical, not allowing her emotions to come to light in this dire situation. She felt her heart drop slightly when he shook his head, producing another audible cough. "Stay with me. I'm going to bring you and your suit back. Pearl and I came here first-- more reinforcements were sent out after we left. Don't worry. More help is on the way." She assured him and began to pull both the pilot and his suit up. A loud crack escaped the mangled mess and he let out a shrill cry, painfully convulsing from whatever had just broken. Her tugging immediately ceased and she breathed out quick, sharp. No, she can't move him. Her eyes scanned over his form and the way his face contorted with pain. She needed to make a decision. She opened a set of coordinates on her visor and placed a star next to them, logging them in for reinforcements. Her microphone icon lit up and she spoke into the comms. "Pearl, I've found one. Rebel, male, young, piloting a Ranger variant. His coordinates are marked and logged. What is the ETA of the reinforcements?" Peridot shot smoothly into the radio, fighting away any tremble that she was sure would melt into her tone. Her answer was silence, and her chest twisted in fear. "Pearl. Pearl respond. Do you have an ETA?" The longer that the radio silence dragged on, the more her anxiety spiked. "I repeat, I need an ETA for evac. Now. Respond! Pearl--" Her talking ceased immediately when something suddenly tackled her from behind. An undignified yelp escaped her and she had to throw her center of gravity to the side, to keep the barely alive man from being crushed. Her helmet crunched against another deceased pilot and a heavyweight made itself known on her back. She heard the telltale unsheathing of a blade, the same as hers, and she instantly dashed in a barrel roll to escape her offender. She darted aside and narrowly avoided being stabbed through one of her flexible backplates. Now that she was further away, she could see the silhouette of her attacker.

The bright flashlight on her shoulder blinked a few times from the previous impact, strobing the sleek brass Interceptor before her. The suit of armor was identical to Pearl's but had been white with brass and gold highlights all over the trims and sloping pieces. The telltale yellow face of the stalking clone proved that this was a Pearl. The Pearl of Yellow Diamond.

"Your distress call was not transmitted, 2F5L. I intercepted it before anything could escape. Speaking of escape, you did not think this through very well, did you?" The partially functioning torch on her shoulder illuminated the blade in Yellow Pearl's hand. She swirled it around, a dangerously long double-sided karambit, before her arms darted down to pierce the chest of the injured rebel. Peridot moved faster however and thrust her arm in the way, allowing the blade to pass through one of the slotted hydraulic struts harmlessly. Her thrusters had engaged instantaneously to allow her to move at such great speeds, and Peridot would not be surprised if the Yellow Pearl exclaimed in confusion. The barrel of her shotgun was pressed against the other interceptor's right leg at the same moment, and she engaged her boosters once more to throw off the balance of her adversary. The shotgun fired at the same time as the thrusters and the two Javelins flashed backward, the unmet resistance startling the ex-Diamond Authority arcanist.

"Fancy meeting you here, Yellow Pearl. Don't you have some shoes to be polishing?" The lithe Peridot clone retorted easily, cocking back the action of her weapon. Although her confidence gave the notion of the upper hand, the paraplegic was exhausted. Peridot may have had a top of the line Javelin when she was serving under the Diamond Authority, but a lot had changed in very little time. Not only did she have to repair her suit with scraps from others, but Yellow Pearl's suit was flawless, boasting its untouchable speed with a glossy gleam of brass. The two Interceptors danced with one another gracefully, with buck shots and slugs being fired, and two knives from one armored individual being thrown around. It was nearly impossible to keep an eye on the blade dancing duo at all times due to the sheer speed they were able to move at and exchange blows at. The only indicator that things were happening in the white and yellow blurs appearing and vanishing across the room were the flashes from the lack of a muzzle brake and the pulsing of their outermost shields being damaged. _I need to keep moving. _Peridot could feel her body straining against the rapid jerks that she kept engaging and disengaging. There was enough padding in her suit for her to plummet from a tower and when she hit the ground, she was confident that she could come out unscathed. Even then, the constant whiplash she was experiencing from her rapid movements with another Interceptor was beginning to slow her down. It was unnoticeable at first, beginning with the blade of Yellow Pearl seeming uncomfortably closer at some points. Her shield would pulse, telling her it took damage. She couldn't look at her active status but knew that she was sustaining blows. It wasn't until the dangerous blade of the Homeworld soldier passed through her bracer did she realized that her shields were compromised.

** _[ ! ] Warning! Shield capacity at [ 0 ] percent._ **

A considerable amount of sweat was beaded against her forehead, obviously from exertion and from the pain she received from her constant abrupt jerks, but she refused to back down from this encounter. After four more shots, her weapon clicked uselessly and the rebel decided that she needed to get creative. The next swing of the blade was intercepted by the expanded stock of the shotgun. This sudden intrusion and awkward yank of the gun in question caused the blade's owner to falter, giving enough of an opportunity for an opening. Peridot used all of her might, as well as one of the boosters on her arm, to fire the shotgun away at an impressive velocity. the sudden movement caused one of the blades that had been stuck in the struts of the weapon to also go spiraling away, effectively disarming her opponent of one weapon. One down, one to go. The only issue with her tactic was that it had made her vulnerable to attack. The second occupied knife had dashed downwards and slashed across the tubing of the digitigrade leg, causing a malfunction in Peridot's left leg booster. Peridot had attempted to boost away, but she had not been fast enough.

** _[ ! ] Warning! Afterburners compromised [ Left leg ]. Diverting power._ **

"What are you trying to prove? Here Yellow Diamond had assumed you perished in the attack. Your suit was compromised according to the distress signals that were sent out, but your coordinates could not be pinpointed. Not only that but whatever it was that took you out also eliminated 8L2T!" _Too slow. _Even with one fractured booster, the lithe rebel pilot darted backward to evade a sudden swipe from the menacing Yellow Interceptor. "8L2T was one of our most formidable soldiers! Were you in cahoots with that silly rebellion the whole time, just to take out one of our generals?" The offending Pearl had snapped, dashing forward to pursue the fleeting rebel who had begun to take evasive maneuvers. The magnet superimposed against the back of the marksmen rifle disengaged when one of her armored fingers pressed against the release, causing her rifle to drop into the dexterous palms that were waiting anxiously. She almost fumbled with the rifle because of the speed that she had been evading at, but her expertise with the coordination of her suit and the firearm had been more than enough to prevent a slip-up. Her left leg had dragged across the floor with each not-so-graceful dodge, the friction only hindering her ability to maneuver around the vast room. _She won't let up. _"The only reason why our search party was dispatched in the first place was so we could collect your poor excuse for a Javelin before those detestable rebel scum did! My Diamond would never send out a squadron to retrieve the likes of some weak, wrong Peridot!" Her words had a bite, obvious from the way that she had been becoming more and more frustrated as a few seconds had dragged into minutes. Peridot was losing her rhythm from exhaustion, the force of her Javelin being very taxing on the recent paraplegic who had not so much as sat inside of a Javelin for an extended period. Albeit she was tired and in pain, she knew that any hesitation, any lag, would result in her untimely death. With her shields down and an aggressive, ever-vigilant Interceptor closing in, she knew that blade could spell her death. Her words had a particular venomous quality to them, but the arcanist would not allow them to get to her. The words that were biting into her were not nearly as painful as that blade would be if it had the opportunity to sink into the vulnerable fine leather along her torso. When Pearl surged forward, Peridot countered by dashing forward, firing off her marksmen rifle as fast as she could pull the trigger, the barrel of the rifle pointing downwards. Both suits paused for a long moment, parallel in their forms and being around ten feet away from one another. After a long, tense moment of silence, they each dropped to a knee. While three of Peridot's shots had hit true, the blade of the other woman had, too.

** _[ ! ] Warning! Torso compromised [ Abdominals ]. System administering immediate cauterization._ **

It burned intensely. "You're right. That clod would never send out a search team for a single Peridot." She ignored the warnings. She turned over her shoulder, wincing at the pain striking through her obliques, and the burning that ensued directly after. She huffed and stepped toward the other injured Javelin menacingly.

"That was her first mistake."

Smoke billowed out from the barrel of the rifle as a few more well-placed bullets hit true, assaulting the supposedly faster Interceptor with increasingly more irreparable damages. A choked gasp escaped the Diamond Authority soldier, and she struggled to keep herself up on one knee. The tiny Peridot did not seem so insignificant now that she towered over a defeated Yellow Pearl. The magnet on the back of her rifle engaged and she clipped it back to her waist, left leg dragging ever so slightly as she approached to loom over her rival. "Well, it would seem that this _wrong _Peridot defeated a personal servant to Yellow Diamond. Not so insurmountable now, are we?" Peridot spoke in an emotionless, condescending manner as she placed a lithe, arched metal foot against the back of the Yellow Interceptor. She kicked the other woman over with ease and felt excitement spark in her heart as the other woman tumbled pathetically to the ground. An uneasy smirk came to her lips and she giggled, a certain enjoyment being derived from the misuse of Yellow Diamond's slave. As much as she loathed to admit it, perhaps being with Jasper for so long did teach her a thing or two. She was sure that this would not have been a victory for her had she not received personal training from the burly woman. Interceptors were trained to strike fast and strike hard, never being properly-versed in defensive tactics. That was where Yellow Pearl had lacked, and this had given Peridot the upper hand. "Where did all that confidence go?" Another well-placed kick landed true against the incapacitated woman, right in her abdomen. "They don't make them like they used to." Peridot sneered, and she turned over her shoulder when the comms crackled to life in her ear. Pearl's voice made itself present, dragging her away from that dark place she was stuck in after experiencing her first victory for months. 

"Peridot, reinforcements will be here soon-- ETA 55 minutes. What's your status?" The Interceptor made a noise in the back of her throat as she spared a glance at the defeated Yellow Diamond footsoldier. She made her way carefully over to where the rebel man was lying, and it seemed that he was unconscious. She scanned his vitals with a hand and her systems informed her that he was still breathing. She breathed out carefully, wincing slightly when an inhale came and tugged at the wound against her abdomen. 

"Pearl, I've secured one rebel soldier. His Javelin is in an irreparable condition. I also intercepted Yellow Diamond's Pearl in the same hanger, and have subdued her." There was a brief pause over the communications link, and Peridot could hear the way that the other woman's breathing seemed to catch for a moment. "I am going to sweep the area for any more survivors. What have you found?"

Pearl's response was fast and articulate. "We will talk more about your... encounter. For now, I have defeated the titan that was wandering around. It was not an ancient titan, so it was relatively simple. There was another small band of natives that were fighting it at a closer range, so I did not draw their attention to me as I sniped. I have found several rebel survivors and already marked their coordinates. I found Garnet in the communication tower with the area barricaded. I still have not made any contact with Amethyst or Lapis, and Garnet has not either. Keep an eye out."

"Understood. I will report back if anything else happens. Over and out." Peridot's heavily armored feet made their way towards Yellow Pearl again, ready to resume her barrage until the other pilot had stopped moving around, but was stopped by a noise close by. Her head darted to the left and she paused for a long moment, surveying the weak flicker of the overhead. She was definitely not hearing things-- she picked up on shaky inhales. The Interceptor made her way over to her discarded shotgun and tossed the blade stuck to it away. She paused for another long, tense moment, listening carefully in the direction that the sound originated from. A few sparks made their presence known, a sure sign of a damaged Javelin. Unprovoked, Peridot darted forward at a blinding speed due to her thrusters and was suddenly around the corner, only to find something interesting. Firstly, her eyes found another Ranger Javelin, spraypainted completely black and pink, save for a few patched spraypainted sloppily on to represent bones or skulls. The more important fact, however, was the small piece of rebar that was jammed into her compromised abdomen. She swung the shotgun up instinctively and smashed the butt of it against the shoulder of her offender, knocking the unsteady Javelin over with ease. The boy toppled over and he yelped in surprise, his facemask stuttering into an ajar position. 

"W-wait! Don't kill me!" He shouted, his voice cracks clearly showing his fear, and the clone grit her teeth loudly. A soft groan of agony was torn from her throat as she reached a hand down, pulling out the dull rebar from her recently cauterized wound. The pain caused her to see stars, but biting her tongue kept her grounded. "Please, I...! Wuh..." He suddenly trailed off, looking the intimidating sleek javelin before him up and down several times. Another short pause ensued, before he scrambled into an upright position, no longer pleading for his life. "Wait, you're a rebel? Oh, geez, I just stabbed you, I'm sorry! I thought you were the other Interceptor, the Diamond one."

** _[ ! ] Warning! Torso compromised [ Abdominals ]. System re-administering immediate cauterization._ **

Peridot dismissed the notification and breathed heavily, a sure sign of her pain and growing aggravation. "It's... fine. It doesn't matter. I am glad that I found you, even if your crude weapon seemed to find my injury. Your Javelin is in a detestable state, but it seems capable of moving. What is your hull integrity at?" Peridot asked cautiously, lowering the sights on her weapon away from the other rebellion Javelin. He seemed to fumble for a moment before he finally pulled himself up onto unstable legs. A quick overview of its condition informed Peridot that it was not good-- the legs had taken considerable damage, and his helmet was malfunctioning. The stiff way his arms moved told her that their hydraulic components were probably in poor condition.

"Uh, it's at forty-seven percent. So, not great, but almost halfway decent." He supported, and this number came as a slight shock. She was surprised he could still operate it but did not let that shock show in her posture or her calculated response. "I'm second private Barriga, by the way, sorry for... stabbing you. Again. I thought you were--"

"Barriga, remain here. And take," She reached over her shoulder and grabbed the Marksmen rifle from her back, shoving it unceremoniously into his confused hands, "this. You're going to sweep this room for any other survivors and wait until backup arrives. They'll be here in under an hour. Oh, and if that Interceptor," She beckoned with her head towards the crumbled up Diamond Authority Javelin on the floor, "gives you any trouble... Take care of her. Do not hesitate. It could cost you and that young man over there your lives. I need to continue my sweep." Peridot, impatient as ever, did not wait for a response. Instead, she continued to walk again, tossing aside the bloodied rebar aside and stalking out of the room. She was on a mission to find Lapis, hopefully still alive. That was at the forefront of her mind.

Peridot did not have much luck as she carefully investigated the rest of the West wing. She pried open blast doors, maneuvered through devastated rooms until she had come across a massacre. Not only were there dead rebels and Diamond Authority soldiers, but there were a plethora of wild animal corpses. Her suit filtered out the sure to be unbearable smell of death and copper, else she would find herself quite disgusted. What was the most intriguing about this atrium was the fact that she could hear the obvious signs of struggling and fighting. She made a move to investigate this turmoil but was abruptly thrown off of her game when another Javelin slammed into her from one of the upper stories. Peridot barely acted fast enough to catch the haphazardly thrown Javelin, and was unable to stay on her feet from the impact. She stumbled back and jerked as she hit the ground, holding the other suit that was slightly larger than hers in her durable arms. Before she could register what had happened, her head was locked in an upward position as a weapon's barrel suddenly collided with the bottom of her sleek helmet. Her faceplate disengaged and she shot her eyes downwards, chartreuse glaring daggers at her offender. This did not last long, however, when green met that beautiful pair of unnaturally saturated ocean blue. The pistol in the Storm Javelin's hands lowered immediately, almost falling out of her hands with the shock that accompanied their gazes connecting. She felt her pulse quicken, replacing her fear with adrenaline. She licked her dry lips, suddenly faltering and forgetting why exactly she had been here fr the briefest of moments.

"Lazuli?"


	9. Designs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My sincerest apologies, but this is not another chapter! This is not a necessity to view, as it has no impact on the story or the characters, but it hopefully will paint a better picture of the intended designs of the character's armor for you! Chapter 9 will be up soon, so stay tuned.

For those of you who follow this story, I would like to take a moment and thank you all for your kind support and comments! It is you lovely folks that give me the inspiration to continue writing, in hopes that you all may be sated!

It's sad that this is not another chapter, I understand-- however, chapter 9 is currently on its way and I appreciate your patience with me regarding this story. I did not only post this chapter to thank you all for your kindness and continued support, but to also showcase the designs of Lapis' and Peridot's Javelins! There are more in the works right now, but figuring out those designs and having the currency to buy the cool in-game armor and cosmetics for the designs I have in mind are expensive! So bear with me here. 

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<https://clod5xg.tumblr.com/post/190923353883/im-so-glad-that-anthem-has-such-a-great>

The lovely link that I have provided above is my Tumblr account, which I use very frequently to post screenshots I take of games or more commonly art that I make! While the art is not particularly fascinating, I did have some concept stuff I did on there for Peridot. If you would like to follow me and see what I'm up to, feel free to! This fanfiction would not have been possible without the video game Anthem! It is a very visually beautiful and smooth game and I was one of the people who pre-ordered it and played during the beta. The creators of this game have all of my love and respect, and I urge any other gamer out there to give this a try!

_Ahem. _Now that my self-insert is out of the way, we can get to the best part of this tiny update. [ The following images were screenshots taken in-game. ]

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